Employment Law Now

Today's episode is the first of two parts wrapping up the big developments and trends coming out of the Summer of 2023. In this Part 1, we discuss the United States Department of Labor's proposed new overtime exemption rule: what it says, what it does not say, and when it might be effective.

I am joined by a panel that includes EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas and Cozen O'Connor Labor & Employment Attorneys Debra Friedman and Alan Pittler to discuss the Supreme Court's June 29, 2023 decision on affirmative action, and the implications on educational institutions AND private employer programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Today's episode looks at the hot employment law developments of the Summer of 2023, including the Supreme Court impacting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and the "undue hardship" defense for religious accommodation requests; the new federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act; new rules on independent contractor and overtime exemption classifications; and the first regulation of AI hiring tools.

On today's episode, NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo talks directly about the new Memorandum she issued this week and why she believes that the proffer, maintenance, and enforcement of non-compete agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act.

Today's episode features a roundtable discussion on Artificial Intelligence and Generative A.I. from multiple perspectives that employers should be thinking about: labor and employment, corporate and privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory.

In today's new episode, I am joined by current EEOC Commissioner and Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels to get some insight on a wide-range of topics, including public perception of the EEOC; the likely impact of pending Supreme Court decisions on religious accommodation and diversity/equity/inclusion initiatives; the new federal pregnancy accommodation rules; Covid-19 cases; and the recent federal agency partnership to combat retaliation.

On today's new episode (Part 2 of a two-part A.I. series), I am joined by economist Christine Polek, PhD from The Brattle Group to discuss Artificial Intelligence and how employers can use statistical and qualitative analyses to determine if their A.I. tools unintentionally violate anti-discrimination laws.

Today's episode is Part 1 of 2 addressing the use of Artificial Intelligence ("A.I.") in employment-related decisions. Joining me today is current EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling to discuss the intersection of A.I. and EEO laws, as well as how the EEOC has been addressing these important issues.

Today I am joined by NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo to discuss the Board's February 21, 2023 decision in McLaren Macomb invalidating certain confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements, the retroactive and prospective impact of the decision, and whether any other severance agreement provisions may be questioned in the future.

Today's episode analyzes the NLRB's decision to invalidate standard clauses in severance agreements, a Supreme Court decision providing overtime to a highly compensated employee, guidance on remote work and the FLSA/FMLA requirements, and the trend toward a 4-day workweek.

In today's special episode, I again bring back my inaugural guest from February 1, 2017 (Howard Schweitzer, Cozen O'Connor) to talk about the state of politics and the impact on employers, as well as some prognostication about 2023 and beyond.

In this second of two parts to start the new year, I address the ten issues that employers should be thinking about in 2023.

Today's episode looks at the proposed New Year's rule issued by the FTC that would ban all non-compete agreements between employers and employees, what the next steps and likely challenges to the rule may be, and what it all means for employers.

In today's episode, I interview EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, and OSHA Assistant Secretary Douglas Parker about today's hot topics and agency initiatives.

Today's new episode looks at the five developments you need to know now, including the new proposed independent contractor rule, the EEOC's new required poster, NLRB efforts to monitor your monitoring, salary transparency rules, and election day activities.

This episode discusses the NLRB's proposed new September 2022 joint employer test in the context of the historical shifting political winds, and what it may mean for employers.

Today's new episode discusses what you may have missed during the Summer of 2022, including Covid-19 and Monkeypox updates, unlawful dress codes, an ADA first, and brand new guidance from the EEOC and DOL.

In today's episode, I offer the takeaways from the Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and am joined by colleagues for a roundtable discussion on the impact of the decision on benefits, health care, and labor and employment law.

In today's episode, I am joined by Dan Pascale, Executive Vice President of Margolis, Healy and Associates, to discuss how employers should be addressing today's threats and acts of violence in the workplace.

As we approach the unofficial start to Summer 2022, today's new episode addresses the 10 issues that should be on the radar of all employers.

In today's new episode, I am joined by NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo to discuss significant recent activity at the Board, including her position that employer "captive audience meetings" held with employees violate the National Labor Relations Act.

Congress just passed a significant new law prohibiting pre-dispute arbitration agreements (and class action waivers) for claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. In today's new episode, I discuss what the new federal law says and what it does not say, and what employers should be thinking about.

Equal pay issues are becoming more prominent across the country, and significant new legislation in Illinois is worth noting (whether or not the company does business there). Joining me to discuss the law and its implications on equal pay trends generally are the Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Labor, Jason Keller, and two Cozen colleagues, Jeremy Glenn and Sydney Holman.

For this 5th anniversary episode, I am joined by my guest from the very first podcast episode on February 1, 2017 (and every anniversary since), Howard Schweitzer, to talk about the state of politics on the federal, state, and local levels, and the impact on employers in 2022.

Current EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas joins me on the podcast today to talk about public perception of the EEOC, responding to employee religious accommodation requests, combating anti-semitism in the workplace, Covid-19 as a "disability," the benefits of mentorship, and what we can expect in 2022.

Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court re-issued a stay prohibiting the federal government (OSHA) from enforcing its ETS that required large employers to either mandate Covid-19 vaccines or weekly testing. Today's new episode discusses the Supreme Court's decision and the impact on employers.

Last night, December 17, 2021, the 6th Circuit dissolved and eliminated the prior stay of enforcement that was in place for the OSHA ETS. In this special weekend episode, I break down the 6th Circuit's surprising decision and what it now means for employers.

In today's episode, current EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling joins me to talk about the benefits, risks, and EEOC position on employer use of artificial intelligence to make employment-related decisions.

This episode provides the current status of all of the federal vaccine mandates (OSHA ETS, health care industry rule, and federal contractor rule), as well as an update on significant developments on the state and local levels.

Today's new episode summarizes the late-breaking developments with the 5th Circuit's extension of its stay of enforcement of the OSHA ETS, and the impact that today's Circuit Court lottery may have on the ultimate viability of the ETS.

In today's new episode, I break down the primary obligations under OSHA's new ETS on mandatory vaccination and testing, provide an update on current legal challenges, and suggest what employers should be doing right now.

In today's episode, I address one of the biggest challenges employers have faced with mandatory vaccine policies: religious-based accommodation requests. First, I summarize the EEOC's latest update from this week on religious-based accommodations. Second, I am joined by my Cozen colleague, Jeff Pasek, to talk about best practices and how employers should assess religious-based accommodation requests.

In today's episode, I am joined by Dr. Christina Carson-Sacco, the co-founder of The Center for Neuropsychology and Counseling, to talk about the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the mental health of employers and employees, and how all of us can better promote mental health moving forward.

In today's new episode, I provide an update on the anticipated vaccine ETS from OSHA, the EEOC's latest guidance on vaccine incentives, the current obligations under the NY HERO Act, and whether sex addiction is a disability under the ADA.

In today's new episode, we address President Biden's new directive that OSHA issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or weekly testing. We also look at the import of New York State finally designating Covid-19 as a "highly contagious communicable disease."

On today's episode (our 100th!), I talk about the latest developments with Covid-19 vaccines and mandatory vaccine policies, and am joined by my Cozen colleague John Carrigan to discuss what California and other bellwether states are doing on the vaccine issue.

In today's new episode, I discuss big new developments: updates on mandatory vaccine and mask policies, new action to ban non-competes, a big free speech decision, New York regulatory updates, and a proposed wage and hour rule.

Right at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, the EEOC issued new guidance on Covid-19 vaccine policies and incentive programs. Today's episode breaks down the Commission's answers to key questions and what it all means for employers.

Today I am joined by Dan Pascale of safety and security firm Margolis Healy (a Cozen O'Connor affiliate) to identify the workplace violence and safety issues that businesses should be thinking about in 2021.

In today's new episode, I talk about social media and schools (and what that means for employers generally), spousal claims against employers for getting Covid-19 at home, the withdrawal of the independent contractor rule, the new New York HERO Act, and what the CDC just did to eliminate masks.

The past several weeks have seen significant action from the major federal agencies involved with employment law: EEOC, NLRB, DOL, and OSHA. In today's new episode, I will highlight the direction these agencies seem to be taking and am joined by Jim Sullivan, my colleague and former Chairman of the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission, to talk about OSHA and its anticipated Covid-19 input.

This episode addresses significant changes from OSHA and the DOL, the new and expanded FFCRA, and the first state to require paid leave to get vaccinated.

In today's episode, I am joined by Donna Hughes, the Chief People Officer at EmblemHealth to talk about her experiences, successes, and concerns about promoting diversity and inclusion within the organization, and strategies to get buy-in from top to bottom.

Evan Armstrong from the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) joins me to talk about the significant PRO Act that was introduced in Congress and that will dramatically alter labor issues such as the use of mandatory arbitration agreements, the joint employer and independent contractor tests, and the ability to have secondary union boycotts and "quickie elections."

Today's episode is the second of my two-part conversation with EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling (Part 1 released yesterday), who discusses the EEOC's enforcement priorities, the increase in use of guidance and opinion letters, hot 2021 topics (including Covid-19), and outreach and litigation avoidance resources for both employers and employees.

Today's episode is the first of a two-part conversation with EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling, who discusses the EEOC's enforcement priorities, the increase in use of guidance and opinion letters, hot 2021 topics (including Covid-19), and outreach and litigation avoidance resources for both employers and employees.

In today's episode, I am joined by my Cozen colleague and the Chair of our OSHA Practice Group, John Ho, to talk about the new guidance (finally?) issued by OSHA on the Covid-19 pandemic. What did the guidance say? What did it not say?

As he does every February 1st since our inaugural episode on February 1, 2017, my colleague and the CEO of my firm's Public Strategies Group, Howard Schweitzer, joins the podcast to reflect on the state of politics in DC and around the country, and what it all means for employers.

In this first new episode of the year, I address the 21 employment law issues that employers should watch in 2021.

In today's new episode, I address three quick hits for the holiday week: (1) the implications of Congress' failure to extend the expiring FFCRA requirements; (2) a federal court preliminarily striking down President Trump's Executive Order on workplace diversity trainings; and (3) the long-awaited new DOL rule on employee tipping.

In today's new episode, I am joined by Andrew Howe, CPA (BerganKDV) and Steven Dickinson (Cozen O'Connor) to talk about the latest updates on the PPP loan process and requirements for businesses to apply for loan forgiveness.