The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Acting General Counsel recently concluded that surreptitious recordings of collective bargaining sessions is a per se violation of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act). In the memo issued to NLRB regional offices on June 25, 2025, Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen instructed regions to issue a complaint, alleging bad faith bargaining, if an investigation reveals surreptitious recording occurred. … Continue Reading
President Trump’s Budget Goes To Work Against Enforcement Agencies with Significant Cuts to DOL and NLRB
President Trump’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 includes substantial reductions to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) budget and staff. The proposed discretionary budget is slashed from $13.5 billion to $9 billion, reducing it by one third. The number of employees is reduced by nearly 4,000 from 14,855 to 10,879—or a more than 25% cut. … Continue Reading
EEOC Eliminates Option to Include Nonbinary Employees in EEO-1 Reports on Workforce Demographic Data
The 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection window opened on May 20, 2025, and the deadline to file the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 report is June 24, 2025. Filers should note that the collection window is shorter this year, and that beginning this year, all communications sent to filers will be electronic.… Continue Reading
Congress Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Provide Federal Paid Family Leave Funding for States
On April 30, 2025, Congressional Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) introduced the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act in the House of Representatives.
The bill would develop a three-year pilot program administered by the federal Department of Labor (DOL) that would provide grant funding to states that establish paid family leave programs in partnership with private companies.… Continue Reading
Coalition for a Democratic Workplace Urges US Attorney General to Unilaterally Override Biden-Era NLRB Decisions
The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) – an association of several hundred employers and employer associations – sent letters to US Attorney General Pam Bondi to direct the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to ignore a swatch of Biden-era decisions pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order asserting that the President and the AG have the power to interpret the law for all agencies. … Continue Reading
New (Old) Battlegrounds: The Administration’s Targeting of Transgender Rights
Within the last two months, both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the armed services have followed Trump Administration directives to narrow or eliminate protections for transgender individuals.
EEOC Withdraws Lawsuits. Aligning with Executive Order 14168 (Jan. 20, 2025) announcing that the federal government will recognize only male/female as the two “immutable biological classifications,” the EEOC has deprioritized transgender discrimination charges and moved to dismiss at least seven lawsuits brought on behalf of transgender employees.… Continue Reading
Department of Labor to Reconsider Rule Increasing Overtime Salary Thresholds for White Collar and Highly Compensated Workers
During the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final regulation (the “2024 Rule”) seeking to increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility for the “white-collar” exemption (also referred to as the “EAP” exemption – executive, administrative, and professional) and the “highly-compensated employee” (HCE) exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).… Continue Reading
Court Permanently Blocks DOL from Enforcing DEI Certification Provisions
In our previous post, we discussed the nationwide temporary restraining order issued by the United States District Court for the North District of Illinois that temporarily prevented the Department of Labor from requiring federal contractors to certify that they do not operate any diversity, equity, or inclusion programs that violate the Trump Administration’s recent Executive Orders (“Certification Provision”).… Continue Reading
Federal District Court Temporarily Blocks DOL from Requiring DEI Certification Provisions
On March 27, 2025, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a nationwide temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the Department of Labor (DOL) from requiring federal contractors and grant recipients to certify that they do not operate any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that violate the Trump Administration’s recent DEI related Executive Orders.… Continue Reading
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Finds Remote Employee Who Did Not Reside or Work in Minnesota Is Not Protected by the Minnesota Human Rights Act
A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently issued a decision in Kuklenski v. Medtronic USA, Inc., No. 24-1310 (8th Cir. Apr. 9, 2025), finding that the definition of “employee” in the Minnesota Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) requires physical presence within Minnesota; virtual presence and work-related contacts with the state are not sufficient.… Continue Reading