Labor & Employment Law Update

In Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL 9000, a fictional artificial intelligence machine, helps guide a space mission to Jupiter, but through the course of the film is revealed to be a villainous presence. Fast forward 50 years and, although artificial intelligence (AI) has yet to lead a crew of astronauts to Jupiter, AI now pervades our lives in many seen and unseen ways, including employment recruiting. For example, AI commonly helps companies sort through voluminous resumes to identify qualified candidates. By some estimates, roughly 40 percent of ...

On September 23, 2019 the IRS issued final regulations updating the rules governing hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. They are generally similar to the proposed regulations issued late last year and primarily reflect changes made by the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Some of the changes in the final regulations are mandatory, requiring employers to take action by January 1, 2020.

1. Eliminates of the 6-month contribution suspension requirement

Beginning January 1, 2020, 401(k) and 403(b) plans will no longer be able to suspend ...

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed amendment to the regulation governing the fluctuating workweek (29 CFR 778.114). The fluctuating workweek can be used to calculate overtime for an employee whose hours fluctuate from week to week based on the nature of the job. The DOL’s proposed amendment is to clarify that there is no issue with paying a bonus, shift premium, or additional pay to someone who is being paid via the fluctuating workweek method, but such extra payment will increase the regular rate of pay for calculating overtime unless the additional pay ...

As Illinois set out to become the first state to legalize recreational cannabis through statutory authority, the legislative intent for protections for employers and the workplace were intended to include some of the strongest in the nation. However, when the dust settled and the statutory framework was analyzed, there appeared to be room for reasonable minds to have differing opinions on what the law actually meant for the workplace.

On one hand, could employers lawfully implement reasonable, non-discriminatory drug testing policies aimed at prohibiting applicants and ...

Flu season is here and that likely means employers can hear sneezing and sniffling up and down the hallways at work.  Sick employees are less productive and their absences can disrupt an employer’s operations.  Worse still, sick employees may come into work and spread an illness to coworkers, exacerbating the problem.  According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), recent studies show that flu vaccinations reduce the risk of flu by between 40 and 60 percent.  Given this, employers may wish they could mandate that all employees receive a flu vaccination.  But can they?

For those ...

In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the argument that the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) prohibits mandatory arbitration agreements that contain class and collective action waivers.  But that has not stopped the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that enforces the Act, from weighing-in and declaring other arbitration agreement provisions unlawful.

As a string of recent NLRB decisions makes clear—the newest of which is Beena Beauty Holding, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 91 (2019)—mandatory arbitration provisions, even in non-union ...