In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that 10 employers have settled claims that they violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by posting discriminatory job advertisements on a college recruiting platform. These actions have cost individual employers over $300,000 and serve as a warning to make sure that online job boards are compliant with the INA before posting to them.
Continue reading “DOJ Settles Discrimination Claims with Employers Using Campus Recruiting Services”
New York state is poised to join four other states in banning employment-related noncompete agreements. In addition to standalone noncompetition agreements, noncompete restrictions on employees within offer letters, employment agreements, stock option agreements and other employment-related agreements, are subject to the new law’s prohibition.
Continue reading “New York Legislature Agrees to Ban Noncompete Agreements”
The EEOC releases a technical assistance document exploring employers’ Title VII liability when incorporating AI tools and automated systems in employment selection procedures, and a new Texas district court rule prevents attorneys’ unchecked use of AI in preparing legal documents — we’re exploring these developments and the latest insurance regulatory news from California and Colorado in our briefing.
The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issued new guidance announcing her position that certain noncompete agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act. Citing McLaren Macomb, the General Counsel urged the Board to adopt her position regarding noncompete agreements, arguing that the Board already embraced a similarly restrictive standard for analyzing the lawfulness of severance agreements.
Continue reading “NLRB GC’s Latest Guidance Expands Restrictions to Noncompete Provisions”
Gov. Tim Walz has signed or is expected to sign the Minnesota legislature’s Jobs and Economic Development and Labor Omnibus Budget Bill, bringing broad change to the Minnesota employment law landscape. Notably, the new law bans post-employment noncompete agreements in Minnesota, creates state-wide paid sick and safe time leave, prohibits restrictive franchise agreements, modifies wage disclosure protection law, provides additional protections for pregnant and nursing workers, prevents mandatory employer-sponsored meetings, and creates additional paystub requirements for construction workers, among other things. Gov. Walz signed the paid family and medical leave law, creating a new paid family and medical leave program funded by employer and employee payroll taxes and providing up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a single benefit year for an employee’s own serious health condition and up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a single benefit year for bonding, safety leave or family care, with a cap of no more than 20 weeks of total combined leave in any single benefit year. The Minnesota legislature also ended its 2023 session after passing a recreational cannabis law, amending the state’s drug and alcohol testing laws following the legalization of recreational marijuana, which is anticipated to be signed into law by Gov. Walz this week.
The Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program is a free web-based verification tool for employers to confirm newly hired employees’ work authorization in the United States. Although participation in E-Verify is generally voluntary for employers, some states require employers to use E-Verify in certain contexts. Florida is the most recent state to update its E-Verify laws with Gov. Ron DeSantis signing Senate Bill 1718 on May 10, 2023.
Continue reading “Florida Extends E-Verify Requirement to Private Employers”