On October 4, 2019 President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation suspending entry of prospective immigrants to the United States who will financially burden the United States healthcare system. Under the proclamation foreign nationals would be limited from entering the U.S. on an immigrant visa (as a Legal Permanent Resident or “Green Card” holder) unless the […]

On October 24, Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a sweeping and expansive proposal to extend overtime protections to hundreds of thousands of Michigan’s workers.  The proposal, which is technically a “Request for Rulemaking” to amend the Michigan Administrative Code, calls on the Wage and Hour Division to change the salary test for employees to “better […]

On April 22, 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the formation of a new Payroll Fraud Enforcement Unit, which is tasked with investigating accusations of payroll fraud and “wage theft” against Michigan businesses. The AG’s Office has reportedly been receiving complaints at a steady pace since the announcement of the new unit and has […]

Do your workplace prohibited substances (Smoking or Drug) policies make distinctions between legal and illegal drugs? Do you use “cannabis,” “marijuana,” and “hemp” interchangeably? What about “vaping?” It’s important to understand the vernacular, to make sure your policies say (and, prohibit) what you think they say! Vaping: Vaping is considered the inhaling of vaporized substance. […]

Recently, a group of lawmakers in the Michigan House of Representatives announced a series of bills that are designed to strengthen employee rights and increase compensation.  The bills include: A “Temporary Worker Bill of Rights” that requires employers to give temporary workers the first opportunity at permanent positions and more notice about when they’re scheduled […]

On October 8, 2019, the United States Supreme Court is set to hear a trio of cases that present related questions about the scope of Title VII, the federal civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination in employment.  The consolidated case of Zarda v. Altitude Express and Bostock v. Clayton County will determine whether sexual orientation […]

If you haven’t already filed your EEO-1 Component 2 report, it’s time to check that off your to-do list.  The deadline is fast approaching.  Employers are required to turn over this worker pay and hours data to the EEOC by September 30, 2019. How did we get here? This past Spring, a federal district court […]

On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor released a new rule increasing the salary threshold for employees to qualify for the “white-collar” exemptions from overtime pay.  The DOL set the new salary minimum at $684 per week, or $35,568 per year.  The annual salary threshold for “highly compensated employees” was raised from $100,000 […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a new Notice of Information Collection regarding the EEO-1 Report.  This new Notice includes an updated burden analysis from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) related to compilation and production of requested EEO-1 data. EEOC states that the decades-old Component 1 race and sex data serves […]

In MV Transportation, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 66 (Sept. 10, 2019), unionized employers won a tremendous victory before the NLRB, giving unionized employers with collective bargaining agreements significantly more flexibility to exercise their contractual rights and to make operational changes impacting unionized employees during a labor contract without bargaining.  In short, contractual rights that employers […]