A federal district court in Texas recently delayed the effective date of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s revised joint employer rule until March 11, 2024. The new rule was originally scheduled to take effect on December 26, 2023, but we previously reported that the Board later delayed the…
How often do you find the terms “happy” and “workers’ compensation” in the same sentence? It’s a rare occurrence, given the challenges and complexities associated with workers’ comp in Washington. While many perceive it as a necessary burden, there are companies out there with a different perspective—those who genuinely…
A federal district court in Arizona recently barred an employer from using the undue hardship defense at trial to justify its denial of an employee’s request for time off due to his religious beliefs. The employee requested 1.5 unpaid days off to attend a 4-day Elders Training related to his Jehovah’s Witness faith. The employer…
Most federal contractors and subcontractors are required to notify employees of their whistleblower rights to report misconduct related to the federal contracts, under a new regulation that takes effect on November 6, 2023. Most employers holding contracts with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were already required to…
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on the EEO-1 Report website that it is delaying until Fall 2023 the launch of the portal for covered employers to file their 2022 EEO-1 Reports. EEO-1 Reports are normally due on March 31 of the year following the snapshot date covered by…
If you reimburse employees for business mileage, be aware that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a mid-year increase of four cents, resulting in a standard mileage rate of 62.5 cents per mile, effective July 1, 2022. The standard rate from January 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022, is 58.5 cents per mile. Any amount…
Question: Now that Juneteenth has officially been made a federal holiday, do we need to give people the day off? Answer: Although June 19 has been designated as a federal holiday, as with all federal holidays, most private employers aren’t legally required to observe them. Whether you observe the new Juneteenth holiday will depend on…
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced changes to the rules for determining joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new rules clarify what it means to be a joint employer under the FLSA, and list many helpful examples. The rules take effect March 16, 2020. The DOL discusses two…
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the SECURE Act into law, changing some rules for certain types of retirement savings accounts, including 401(k) plans that many companies offer their employees. Before the SECURE Act (which stands for “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement”), employers offering 401(k) plans could require their employees to work…
The IRS will issue a newly revised Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, to be used beginning in 2020 to reflect changes included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and help employees improve withholding accuracy. The redesigned form will no longer use withholding allowances to establish income tax withholding but will instead use…
An employer wasn’t required to give workers 60 days’ notice of a layoff lasting fewer than 6 months since the layoff wasn’t an “employment loss” under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), according to a recent court decision. Under the WARN Act, an employer must give at least 60 days’ notice in…
Question: Our petty cash has been disappearing lately. There are three employees with access to the cash drawer. Can we use lie detectors as long as we test all three? Answer: No, that’s not enough to justify such a test. Although you’re attempting to be non-discriminatory in testing everyone, using lie detectors on employees is…
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