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Labor Relations / Unions

Labor Dept. to resume issuing opinion letters

07/06/2017
Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta is making good on a promise he made during confirmation hearings earlier this year: The U.S. Department of Labor is bringing back opinion letters explaining how it interprets the laws it enforces, most notably the Fair Labor Standards Act.

DOL on overtime rule: We could defend but don’t really want to

07/03/2017
The Department of Labor has made what may be its last move in the abortive rulemaking process that would have raised the white-collar overtime salary threshold.

Dhillon in, Lipnic out as EEOC chair

07/03/2017
In a move that surprised EEOC staffers and employment law attorneys alike, President Trump on June 28 nominated corporate lawyer Janet L. Dhillon to chair the EEOC.

Attendance rules may interfere with California Labor Code

07/03/2017
Many employers’ attendance policies assign an “occurrence” for unscheduled, unapproved absences. It is important to carefully craft such policies to avoid running afoul of antidiscrimination and anti-retaliation provisions found in state and local paid sick leave laws.

Trump moves to create GOP majority at NLRB

06/29/2017
President Trump has nominated management-side employment lawyer William J. Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan, chief counsel at the commission that reviews contested OSHA decisions, to the National Labor Relations Board.

DOJ reverses course, will argue in favor of class-action waivers

06/20/2017
In a move not seen in more than 35 years, the U.S. Department of Justice is switching sides in an upcoming Supreme Court case. The DOJ announced June 16 that it would no longer argue the employees’ case in NLRB v. Murphy Oil, backing management instead.

DOL tells staffers to stay home when Trump delivers speech at HQ

06/12/2017
In advance of President Trump’s planned June 14 visit to the Department of Labor, Acting Deputy Labor Secretary Ed Hugler sent an all-staff email urging DOL employees not to come to work that day.

DOL seeks to permanently rescind organized labor ‘persuader rule’

06/12/2017
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced plans to rescind a rule that would have required employers and labor-management “persuaders” to report contact with workers during union organizing campaigns.

Acosta: DOL to begin new round of OT rules revision

06/12/2017
Brace yourself for an epic do-over of the salary-threshold rules that determine which white-collar workers are eligible for overtime pay.

Colorado ski towns seek winter avalanche of H-2B visa workers

06/06/2017

The National Ski Areas Association recently wrote to Secretary of Home-land Security John Kelly asking him to more than double the number of H-2B visas granted next winter, from 33,000 to 70,000.