The U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (DOL-WHD) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced plans to collaborate “to enhance and maximize the enforcement of the federal laws administered between the two agencies.” The DOL-WHD enforces the minimum wage and overtime requirements while the NLRB enforces the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).… Continue Reading
Regulatory
EEOC Updates Technical Assistance Manual To Include COVID-19 as a “Disability”
By Shannon D. Farmer & Brook Buettner on
On December 14, 2021, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance manual Technical Assistance manual to address when employees who contract COVID-19 are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The ADA generally prohibits discrimination against (1) a person with disability; (2) a person who has a record of impairment; or (3) an employee who is regarded by the covered entity as an individual with a disability.… Continue Reading
EEOC Updates Technical Assistance Manual To Include COVID-19 Related Retaliation
By Karli Lubin Talmo & Shannon D. Farmer on
On November 17, 2021, the EEOC, as it has done throughout the pandemic, updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance manual. The additional questions and answers clarify that applicants and current and former employees are protected from relation for exercising EEO rights in connection with COVID-19. The guidance identifies particular examples of protected activity, which employees may engage in without fear of retaliation, including:
- Filing a charge, complaint, or lawsuit, regardless whether the underlying discrimination allegation is successful or timely.
NLRB Outlines Employers’ Duty to Bargain Over Implementation of OSHA ETS
By Brian D. Pedrow & Kyle I. Platt on
On November 10, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued a Memorandum outlining employers’ duty to bargain with unions over the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).
The Memo provides that employers have bargaining obligations regarding aspects of the ETS that affect terms and conditions of employment, to the extent the ETS provides employers with choices regarding implementation.… Continue Reading
EEOC Supplements Guidance on Religious Objections to Workplace Vaccine Mandates
By Denise M. Keyser & Gustavo Cardona on
On Monday, as it has done periodically throughout the pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its now-lengthy technical assistance related to COVID-19. This new guidance comes as U.S. employers increasingly have abandoned encouraging or incentivizing vaccinations for their workforces in favor of vaccine mandates, in an effort to get their employees back to work on site (for those who have been working remotely) and in a determined effort to curb the spread of the disease among those who have been working throughout the pandemic or who are just returning to the workplace.… Continue Reading
NLRB General Counsel Says Certain College Athletes are Protected by Federal Labor Law
By Shannon D. Farmer, Rebecca A. Leaf & Jay Zweig on
In a statement that portends additional scrutiny of the “working conditions” of college and university athletes, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has publicly stated her view that scholarship athletes at academic institutions are employees who have the right to organize and to be protected from discrimination and retaliation when they act concertedly to improve their working conditions.… Continue Reading
NLRB Makes Settlement More Difficult
By Steven W. Suflas & Rebecca A. Leaf on
On September 15, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s General Counsel instructed regional offices to take a more aggressive stance in settlement negotiations in unfair labor practice cases, seeking broader remedies for workers.
In GC Memorandum 21-07, which builds upon GC Memorandum 21-06 issued last week, new NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo encouraged regional offices to be creative in the remedies sought in settlement, reasoning that they may be able to obtain more for workers during settlement than in litigation before the Board.… Continue Reading
EEOC Brings its First COVID-19 Disability Bias Lawsuit
By Jessica Federico & Brian D. Pedrow on
On September 7, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed a lawsuit claiming an employer discriminated against disabled employees by failing to provide workplace accommodations related to COVID-19. Specifically, the EEOC has accused ISS Facility Services Inc. a Denmark-based facilities management company, of unlawfully denying its employee’s reasonable request for an accommodation for her disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and then firing her for making the request.… Continue Reading
New NLRB General Counsel Announces Agenda to Strengthen Workplace Rights
By Shannon D. Farmer & Rebecca A. Leaf on
On August 12, 2021, the new General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), Jennifer Abruzzo, announced her intention to target certain legal decisions issued in the last four years that she described as “doctrinal shifts” away from settled law, and a set of older decisions that she would like to “carefully examine.” … Continue Reading
NLRB Will See a Shift in Majority After Senate Confirms Wilcox and Prouty to Board Seats
By Tara L. Humma & Denise M. Keyser on
Yesterday, the United States Senate confirmed Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty to seats on the National Labor Relations Board (Board). These confirmations seal the deal on a Democratic majority on the Board and undoubtedly will mean re-visiting much of the Board precedent established under the Trump-era Board (which, in turn, had overturned many of the Obama Board’s most controversial decisions).… Continue Reading