Articles by WorkWise Compliance team

July 23, 2015

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New York Fast Food Workers to Get $15 an Hour | WWC

The New York Wage Board moved Wednesday to raise the hour wage for fast food workers from $8.75 an hour to $15, which would take effect in New York City on Dec. 31, 2018, and for the rest of the state by mid-2021. The board's move does not require legislative approval, but will need a sign-off by the state labor commissioner, which is expected shortly. If you own or operate a small to mediu...

July 22, 2015

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OSHA Issues Enforcement Instructions for Revised HazCom Standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a directive for enforcement of the new Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom), which went into effect on June 1. HazCom was revised in March 2012 (officially dubbed HCS 2012) to align with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), and manufacturers, importers and distributors of chemica...

July 21, 2015

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Minor Leaguers Press Overtime Lawsuit Against MLB | WWC

Various Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises in the past have avoided paying minimum and overtime wages by relying on the "seasonal amusement" exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but this time a federal court in California has allowed class certification to begin for a group of former minor league players who filed suit. The 22 minor league clubs named in the lawsuit were hopin...

July 19, 2015

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EEOC Ruling Affirms LGBT Discrimination Protection Under Title VII

A ruling this week by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) involving an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seeks to enshrine protected status for sexual orientation in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Though the Civil Rights Act does not specifically mention sexual orientation, the EEOC ruling declares: “Sexual orientation is inherently a sex-based co...

July 17, 2015

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ADA Service Animal Regulations Updated | WWC

This week service animal regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were updated regarding dogs being placed in shopping carts, which is no longer permitted. The FAQs, in answering whether service dogs can be placed in shopping carts, reads: Generally, the dog must stay on the floor, or the person must carry the dog. For example, if a person with diabetes has a glucose alert ...

July 16, 2015

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Fictitious Enrollees Approved -- and Renewed -- by HealthCare.Gov

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) ran a two-year sting operation on the federal Obamacare site, HealthCare.gov, and was able to enroll 11 fake applicants using fabricated documents and even leaving some required information out. All 11 were renewed this year, according to a report released yesterday. Six applicants at one point were terminated, but GAO investigators posing as the fak...

July 15, 2015

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DOL Ratchets Up Campaign Against Independent Contractor Misclassification

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) today issued another broadside against employer misuse of the independent contractor job status to avoid the responsibilities of labeling and treating a worker as an employee. WHD administrator David Weil issued an interpretation titled "The Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s 'Suffer or Permit' Standard in the Identif...

July 15, 2015

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Cases Challenging Contraceptive Services Workaround Rule Losing in Court

The Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic order that operates nursing homes, yesterday became the latest group to lose a court battle over the Obama administration's plan to have health insurance companies directly contact employees about providing contraceptive services. The plan, released last Friday by a consortium of federal agencies, was crafted in response to the Supreme Court's H...

July 14, 2015

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Obama Directs DOL to Create Regulation Enabling State-Run Retirement Vehicles

Picking up on a theme he's visited many times in the past -- the creation of a national IRA (individual retirement account) -- President Obama on Monday directed Thomas Perez, secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL), to draft a regulation enabling states to create such investment vehicles for employees not covered by company retirement options. The president said the regulation should “prov...

July 11, 2015

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Final Rules Issued on Alternative Contraceptive Services Delivery Methods

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of the Treasury (DOT), have issued interim final rules that establish an alternative way for eligible organizations that have a religious objection to covering contraceptive services to seek an accommodation from contracting, providing, paying, or referring for such services. These ru...

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

Latest EEOC Enforcement Data Shows Increased Pre-Litigation Activity

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released its FY 2025 performance and enforcement results. In a news release dated April 6th, 2026, the agency reported increased monetary recoveries for victims of employment discrimination and increased enforcement activity overall....

EEOC Pens Letter to Companies Regarding Title VII Compliance and DEI Initiatives

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NLRB Officially Reinstates Previous 2020 Joint Employer Standard

On February 26th, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officially reinstated its 2020 Joint Employer standard. Specifically, to do so, the agency needed to formally withdraw a 2023 Joint Employer standard. That final rule was to go into effect on February 26th, 2024.

OSHA Releases New Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new workplace job safety and health notice. Specifically, the OSHA Cares Job Safety and Health poster informs workers about their rights under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. Per OSHA’s poster page, employers do...

Agency Releases Newly Proposed Independent Contractor Status Rule; Seeks Employer Comments

On February 26th, 2026, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposed rule designed to help determine independent contractor status. Overall, the new independent contractor rule would help employers better understand when a worker is an employee. Conversely, the rule will allow employers to...

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Articles by WorkWise Compliance team