Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

April 29, 2019

58 view(s)

DOL Opinion Letter Offers Definition of Independent Contractor in Gig Economy

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced today that it has issued a new opinion letter that addresses compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by the department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the individual person or entity that requested the lette...

April 25, 2019

36 view(s)

EEO-1 Pay Data Now Due by Sept. 30

UPDATE: Judge Tanya S. Chutkan today approved the EEOC's new deadline of Sept. 30. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has told a federal judge, who previously ruled the agency must proceed with its once-suspended pay data collection, that it is extending the deadline for Component 2 (pay data) of the EEO-1 Report until Sept. 30. Component 1 (the number of employees who work f...

The AAF Should've Been WARN'd

April 23, 2019

40 view(s)

The Alliance of American Football (AAF), a springtime supplement to the National Football League (NFL) -- which was also striving to be a "minor league" for the bigger entity -- abruptly shut down in early April after eight weeks of operations and is now in bankruptcy court, listing $11.3 million in assets and $48 million in liabilities. Its troubles may not stop there. When it ceased operat...

April 22, 2019

41 view(s)

CMS Releases Final Rules for 2020 Health Plans under Obamacare

After a lengthy commentary period that saw few changes from the proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serves (CMS) has released its "Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters" for health insurance plans being sold on the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) exchanges for 2020. The notice actually lowers user fees on the federal and state health insurance marketplaces, or exch...

SCOTUS to Resolve Split on LGBT Rights under Title VII

April 22, 2019

49 view(s)

Circuit courts have split on whether gender identity and sexual orientation are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as have the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The commission maintains Title VII's protections based on "sex" include gender identity and sexual orientation, while the DOJ hews to a strict interpretation o...

April 10, 2019

51 view(s)

EEOC Discrimination Filings Down from Previous Years

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today released detailed breakdowns for the 76,418 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received in fiscal year 2018 (down from 84,254 in FY 2017). The comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for FY 2018, which ended Sept. 30, 2018, are posted on the agency's website, which also includes detailed breakdown of charges by sta...

DOJ Seeks Speedy Resolution to Obamacare Ruling

April 9, 2019

27 view(s)

On Wednesday, April 10, the 5th Circuit Court granted the Trump administration's request for an expedited hearing, meaning all arguments will be heard in the first week of July. The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday urged the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear all arguments in the appeal of a judge's ruling that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) is unconstitutional...

HHS Releases Additional Funding to Fight Opioid Crisis

April 2, 2019

59 view(s)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released an additional $487 million to supplement first-year funding through its State Opioid Response (SOR) grant program. The awards to states and territories are part of HHS’s Five-Point Opioid Strategy and the Trump administration’s tireless drive to combat the opioid crisis. Together with the $933 million in second-year, continuation...

April 1, 2019

54 view(s)

DOL Proposes Revised Joint Employer Definition

The Department of Labor (DOL) today announced a proposed rule to revise and clarify the responsibilities of employers and joint employers to employees in joint employer arrangements. The department has not meaningfully revised its joint employer regulation since 1958. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows joint employer situations where an employer and a joint employer are jointly respo...

March 29, 2019

39 view(s)

Judge Strikes Down Expansion of Association Health Plans (AHPs)

In the same week that the Trump administration doubled down on its legal opposition to Obamacare, a federal judge Thursday blocked as an "end-run" around the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) the expansion of Association Health Plans (AHPs) sought by the administration. U.S. District Judge John Bates sided with the arguments brought in a lawsuit by 11 Blue States an...

84 of 329

Options

Recent Articles

Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.

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.

U.S. Department of Labor Officially Restores Prior Overtime Exemption Rules

On May 14th, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it has officially rescinded the 2024 overtime exemption rules. Specifically, the WHD published a technical amendment to restore previous 2019 regulations that dictated overtime exemptions for...

View All Articles