President Joseph Biden has fulfilled a promise to significantly increase the minimum wage for federal contractor workers working “on or in connection with” a covered federal contract. He has issued an executive order raising the minimum wage for these workers from $10.95 an hour to $15 an hour beginning 2022.
- On March 31, 2021, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr issued a memorandum stating his office will return to “vigorous enforcement” of employee rights under Section 7 rights of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Ohr encouraged a broader view of Section 7’s protections to cover a wide range of conduct, including “employees’ political and social justice advocacy when the subject matter has a direct nexus to employees’ ‘interests as employees.’” The memorandum provided examples o
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) made the long-awaited announcement that this year’s EEO-1 collection would open April 26, 2021, and close on July 19, 2021.
Employers with at least 100 employees, and federal contractors with at least 50 employees, are obligated to file the EEO-1.
The country begins the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic with optimism because of three Emergency Use Authorization vaccines and President Joe Biden’s direction that all states make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1, 2021. As more workers return to work in person, there are key considerations for employers in the coming months.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 expands upon some popular tax credit provisions and makes other changes to a key tax provision regarding compensation deduction limitations. These changes are summarized below.
Legal precedent, including language from the U.S. Supreme Court, requires federal courts to take a broad view of the “but-for” causation standard for determining unlawful age discrimination in the workplace, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in support of rehearing in a bank teller’s case.
COVID-19 vaccinations are front of mind for restaurant employers looking to return to “normal” in what has been a hard year for the industry. The potential for employee vaccination comes with many questions. Adding to the confusion: vaccine eligibility for restaurant employees varies from state to state, and the timing of eligibility remains unknown in most states.
Despite many uncertainties, there are steps restaurant employers can take now to prepare for vaccination eligibility.
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.” The Guidance incorporates much of the existing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adds to guidance OSHA previously issued, and reflects strategies and practices familiar to many employers.
Last year presented many challenges, and 2021 offers a fresh start. In this issue of the Class Actions Trends Report we review the most significant developments of 2020 and take a look forward to what a new year and a new presidential administration may mean for employers.
Topics addressed in this issue include:
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Annual Performance Report (APR) shows a substantial decrease in the number of lawsuits filed by the agency. However, the APR shows a dramatic increase in the amount of monetary recoveries by the EEOC in litigation compared to FY 2019.