Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

May 28, 2013

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Maryland Amendment Provides for Reasonable Accommodations for Pregnancy Disabilities

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley this month signed legislation amending the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) mandating light-duty and other reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees who are temporarily disabled. The Reasonable Accommodations for Disabilities Due to Pregnancy Act applies to businesses with 15 or more employees. The amendment takes effect Oct. 1, 2013, ...

May 27, 2013

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On Eve of Obamacare, 54 Percent Still in Opposition

Obamacare, according to a CNN/ORC International Poll conducted May17-18, is just as unpopular today as it was in 2010 when opposition sent Scott Brown into the presumably Democratic stronghold Senate seat in Massachusetts held previously by Ted Kennedy. To put things in perspective, Scott Brown has since been replaced by a Democrat, but 54 percent of Americans still oppose the Patien...

May 23, 2013

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President's Nominees to NLRB Sent to Senate for Full Vote

President Obama's five recent nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were voted out of committee yesterday, and their names are being sent to the full Senate for a package vote, up or down. The vote will require 60 Senators in favor for cloture should the Republicans decide to filibuster. Most contentious are the nominees who were recess appointees in January 2012 a...

May 22, 2013

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EEOC Seeks Public Input on Quality Control Plan for Investigations and Conciliations

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released draft principles for the Quality Control Plan (QCP) for public feedback, the agency announced recently. The QCP will revise criteria to measure the quality of agency investigations and conciliations throughout the nation. The plan is being drafted by an internal work group chaired by EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, Dallas Di...

May 22, 2013

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Wage-and-Hour Lawsuits Spike 10 Percent Over Previous Year

According to the Federal Judicial Center, which tracks lawsuit statistics at the federal level, employees filed 7,764 federal wage-and-hour lawsuits between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, a 10 percent jump over the previous year. In contrast, such lawsuits rose only 1 percent year to year in the 2012 reporting period. Wage-and-hour lawsuits arise under provisions of the Fair Labor...

May 20, 2013

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EEOC Convenes Panel to Discuss Challenges, Pitfalls of Wellness Programs

Wellness programs are an increasingly common feature of employee benefits programs, and guidance is needed to avoid violations of federal equal employment opportunity laws, a panel of experts representing business, advocacy groups and providers told the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at a meeting held recently. "We appreciate the valuable insights and diverse perspect...

May 19, 2013

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Recess Appointment of Craig Becker in 2010 to NLRB Ruled Unconstitutional

Throwing all decisions of the National Labor Rrelations Board (NLRB) since 2010 into doubt, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the recess appointment of Craig Becker on March 27 of that year was unconstitutional. As with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and its recent decision ruling that President Obama's three NLRB recess appointments on Jan. 4, 2012, were unconstitu...

May 15, 2013

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New York Minimum Wage to Rise to $9 an Hour Over Three-Year Period

New York will greet New Year's Day 2014 with a new state minimum wage law in effect, the rate rising from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour over a three-year period. The legislation was signed into law this past April 1. The minimum wage will first rise to $8 an hour, then to $8.75 by the end of 2014 and to $9 by the end of 2015. Meanwhile, under threat of a veto, the New York City Coun...

May 14, 2013

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Utah-U.S. Forge New Model for Health Insurance Marketplaces

Utah and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this past week agreed to a fourth model for what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) once called insurance exchanges but are now dubbed health insurance marketplaces. Under the new model, Utah will continue to operate its Avenue H Program, an exchange for employers with up to 50 eligible full-time employees (wor...

May 14, 2013

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Landmark EEOC $240M Verdict Reduced to $1.6M

A jury recently awarded $7.5 million each to 32 mentally disabled Iowa plant workers who were abused for years, giving the Equal Employment Oppotunity Commission (EEOC) a short-lived historical verdict of $240 million. This past Friday, however, both the EEOC and defendant Henry's Turkey Service agreed in legal briefs that federal law caps the recovery for each plaintiff at $50,000, r...

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EEOC Rescinds Permissible Affirmative Action Guidance

On June 30, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) officially rescinded two longstanding documents relating to permissible affirmative action. The documents were part of the EEOC's guidance on affirmative action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

DOJ Challenges EEOC's Stance on Disparate Impact Claims

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued a legal opinion that may signal major changes ahead in federal workplace discrimination enforcement. In a June 9, 2026 memorandum, the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) expressed the opinion that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's...

Department of Labor Issues 2026 Civil Penalty Update: No Adjustments This Year

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published its annual update announcement regarding federal civil monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. In a notice published in the Federal Register on May 27th, 2026, the DOL announced that no penalty increases...

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters on Overtime Exemptions, Bonuses, and Compensable Time

On May 29th, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released several new opinion letters addressing key wage & hour issues. Specifically, one of the four documents informed readers whether an exempt employee could perform additional work in a secondary role at an hourly rate and still be eligible...

EEOC Issues New National Enforcement Plan Through 2029

On June 4th, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new 2025-2029 National Enforcement Plan (NEP). The NEP sets the EEOC’s specific subject-matter priorities from June through fiscal year 2029.

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