Shannon D. Farmer

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On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific LLC (N.L.R.B., Case 28-CA-230115) – upending over fifty years of established law and setting forth a new, union-friendly framework for determining when employers are required to recognize and bargain with unions without a representation election. … Continue Reading

As part of a final rule published on July 25, 2023, and in connection with its newly published Form I-9 (which employees may use after August 1), certain employers will be able to permanently verify an employee’s employment eligibility remotely. This final rule continues the pandemic-related flexibility offered to employers to meet their Form I-9 verification requirements.… Continue Reading

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a unanimous opinion, authored by Justice Alito, in Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General, 600 U.S. ___ (2023), in which it “clarified” decades-old precedent regarding an employer’s obligation to accommodate the religious beliefs of its employees. The unanimous Court held that, under Title VII, an employer is required to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs unless doing so would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently updated its technical assistance bulletin and comprehensive COVID-19 resource, titled What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws (available here), calling the additions its “capstone” to the bulletin in light of the recent end to the COVID-19 public health emergency.… Continue Reading

Two labor organizations, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania (SEIU) and the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), have lodged a public complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has wrongfully exercised its power as the largest private sector employer in Pennsylvania to “suppress workers’ wages and benefits, drastically increase their workloads, and prevent workers from exiting or improving these working conditions through a draconian system of mobility restrictions and widespread labor law violations that lock in sub-competitive pay and working conditions.”  … Continue Reading

Companies impacted by the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure may be concerned about their ability to meet immediate payroll obligations as they await funds from government regulators.  Despite regulatory assurances that funds will be available in the near-term, employers with funds in SVB may remain concerned about their ability to meet ongoing obligations. … Continue Reading

On February 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that an employee who is paid a daily rate for each day worked, no matter how high the rate, is not exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and, therefore, entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a work week. … Continue Reading

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) No. 2023-1 to address  breaks for employees who telework under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), and application of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to teleworking employees.

The FLSA requires covered employers to pay nonexempt employees for all hours worked, including work performed in their home or otherwise away from the employer’s premises or job site.… Continue Reading

For the second time in less than a week, the National Labor Relations Board has thrown out a Trump-era standard and reinstated Obama-era rules favorable to labor unions. In Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation, 16-CA-193636 (“Bexar County II“), the Board restricted a business owner’s ability to prohibit off-duty contract workers from conducting labor protests on its property.… Continue Reading

Employers that violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) will have to pay workers additional damages under a recently issued precedential decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board). 

In Thryv, Inc., the NLRB ruled 3-2 that the Board’s standard remedy for make-whole relief should include consequential damages.  The Board now will “expressly order that the respondent compensate affected employees for all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms suffered as a result of the respondent’s unfair labor practice” to more fully realize the concept of “make-whole relief” under Section 10(c) of the NLRA. … Continue Reading