Workforce Bulletin

On his first day in Office, President Biden issued Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” (“Executive Order”), stating that “[i]t is . . . the policy of [his] Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all.” The Executive Order revokes President Trump’s Executive Order 13950, which had imposed restrictions on workplace diversity training under the guise of combatting race and sex stereotyping.

As we reported in our ...

As part of a “third wave” of executive orders, on January 22, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order instructing the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to “provide a report to the President with recommendations to promote a $15/hour minimum wage for Federal employees.”  The Biden Administration announced via a Fact Sheet published on the White House’s website that the move is purportedly designed to ensure that the federal government is a model employer:

[Federal employees] keep us healthy, safe, and informed, and their work transcends partisan ...

On January 21, 2021, in an effort to provide enforcement of more stringent worker safety standards, President Biden issued an Executive Order (‘EO”) on Protecting Worker Health and Safety. The EO specifically orders the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the Department of Labor to:

1. issue, within two weeks of the date of the EO, revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. consider whether any emergency temporary standards on COVID-19, including with respect to masks in the workplace, are necessary, and if such ...

On January 14, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden released his $1.9 trillion emergency stimulus plan, designed primarily to guide the country through the next medical and economic stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) also includes non-COVID-19 related proposals, such as a mandatory $15 per hour minimum wage and funding to improve cybersecurity.

The following is a non-comprehensive overview of the ARP, which will require Congressional legislative passage.

At the time we are posting this, we are just weeks away from the inauguration of President-Elect Joseph Biden. Although perhaps not at the very top of the list of questions about the forthcoming Biden administration, somewhere on the list has to be this question: “What changes will we see in wage-hour law?”

We don’t have the proverbial crystal ball, but there are a number of issues that the Biden administration may focus on at some point during the next four years, be it through legislation, new rules implemented by the Department of Labor (DOL) or even executive orders.  They may ...

As we previously discussed here, acting on behalf of the Department of Labor (“DOL”), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) urged
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite briefing on its interlocutory appeal of a Texas district court’s nationwide preliminary injunction barring implementation and enforcement of the new overtime rule that would double the minimum salary threshold for white-collar exemptions, among other things. The injunction was issued just days before the rule was to go into effect on December 1, 2016.

The DOJ obtained a fast-tracked briefing ...