Monday, July 6, 2026Labor & Employment Law
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6399 articles on ELINFONET
Benefits - General
Does a benefit plan, to fall within the so-called “church plan exemption,” have to be directly established by a religious entity? Or is it enough for the benefit plan to be established by an organization, such as a medical institution, that is itself established by a religious entity? That is the qu
OSHA - General
The Industrial Truck Association (ITA) has renewed an alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that is designed to reduce workplace incidents, such as tip-overs and struck by hazards, associated with powered industrial trucks.
OSHA - General
The Metal/Non-Metal (M/NM) sector of the U.S. mining industry achieved two first-ever milestones last year, not only by working without a fatality for 133 consecutive days — about 4.5 months — but also by doing so during October, a month which had never before been fatality-free in the M/NM sector.
Immigration - Visas
The United States has begun implementing changes to its visa policies that will make it harder for some travelers to enter the country under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). One result of the changes means certain countries’ nationals are no longer eligible to enter the U.S. under the VWP.
HR - General
The U.S. Court Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled that statutory damages under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) are not available in a case where the plaintiff did not incur any actual damages.
OSHA - Whistleblower Protections
On January 28, 2016, OSHA released an updated Whistleblower Investigations Manual (OSHA Instruction CPL 02-03-005) to replace the manual dated April 21, 2015. The new manual makes three significant changes:
Immigration - General
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed new guidance for adjudicating O-1 visa petitions for athletes and other individuals of extraordinary ability in certain fields. If the proposal becomes effective, athletes will have greater flexibility in satisfying the O-1 visa crit
OSHA - General
A divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between NLRB and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over OSHA-related issues does not require NLRB’s General Counsel to consult with OSHA before issuing investigative subpoenas.
Massachusetts - Wage & Hour
The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill to amend the state’s Equal Pay Act that would impose more rigorous equal pay obligations on employers by prohibiting certain conduct. The House is considering the bill.
OSHA - General
The Mine Safety and Health Administration may continue phasing-in its new coal dust rules, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has decided, relying on what it called a “holistic interpretation” of the Mine Act to uphold MSHA’s new rules. National Mining Association, et al. v
HR - General
Each year at the beginning of tax season, the IRS releases the “Dirty Dozen,” a list of twelve tax scams to be mindful of when individuals are filing their taxes. This list is something to consider sharing with colleagues or friends within your organization.
HR - General
As we previously reported, the EU and U.S. reached agreement last week on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to replace the invalidated EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Program for transatlantic data transfers. While the announcement of the Privacy Shield is a relief to the thousands of companies who relied on the Safe
HR - Whistleblowing
Finding a former employee failed to “put up” sufficient facts to support the nexus between his termination and whistleblower activity protected by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), the federal appeals court in Philadelphia, in effect, has told him to “shut up,” affirming summary judgment unanimously in
HR - General
President Barack Obama requested $19 billion in his budget for 2017 to address cybersecurity in the United States, $5 billion more than was budgeted for the current year. Today, he issued an Executive Order that will create a commission within the Department of Commerce to be known as the “Commissio
FLSA - Employees Covered
The Republican leadership of a congressional oversight committee has started investigating inter-agency communications in response to the Obama Administration’s attempts to hold business franchisors accountable for labor law violations of their franchisees.
OSHA - General
Finding evidence presented by a mine inspector to be “too vague and conclusory,” an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has vacated two citations against a Tennessee stone producer over allegedly excessive slack in the steering mechanisms on two haul trucks.
California - General
Denying an employer’s motion to compel individual arbitration of a wage and hour class action, a California federal court ruled that the employer’s dispute resolution program violated its employees’ right to engage in concerted action under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). Totten v. Kellog
Benefits - Retirees
Citing the threat of future insolvency, a New Jersey Teamsters Local Pension Fund has applied to the U.S. Treasury Department for permission to reduce by 40 percent the vested member benefits in the Fund.
Class Actions - General
There’s been a lot of buzz in the past few weeks surrounding Lyft’s proposed class action settlement in Lyft v. Cotter, NDCA Case No. 13-cv-04064-VC. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Lyft will, among other things, (1) pay putative class members $12.25 million; (2) replace its current at-w
Federal Gov't - EEOC
Proposed changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s EEO-1 report would have employers with at least 100 employees submitting all employees’ W-2 earnings data and actual hours worked beginning with the 2017 EEO-1 reporting cycle.