Trump DOL removes Obama DOL guidance on independent contractors, joint employment. On Wednesday, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta removed two Administrator's Interpretations on independent contractors and joint employment issued during the Obama Administration. Here is our Client Bulletin, which I wrote with Jim Coleman, co-chair of our Wage and Hour Practice Group. The ...

President Donald Trump has proposed to merge two of the primary government agencies focused on equal employment in the workplace – the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.  Robin has discussed this proposed merger here, here, and here.

She's asked for input from the Affirmative Action team, so here it is.

The ...

You want my salary history? That's sex discrimination! Well, actually, it's a little more complicated. Kacy Coble of our Memphis Office has a great post over at FOCUS, our women's leadership blog, about the perfectly legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons why employers sometimes use salary history in setting pay -- and how alternatives may be even more unfair. As state and ...

OSHA intends to postpone requirement that safety reports be submitted electronically for all the world to see. You may recall that, about a year ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a rule that would require certain employers to submit some injury and illness reports electronically. The information would then be made publicly available. Now OSHA ...

Yesterday, the Trump Administration released its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2018, which runs from October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018. Here are the highlights related to labor and employment law, and there are a BUNCH. The following is a compilation of a number of articles published in yesterday's edition of Bloomberg BNA's Daily Labor Report (paid subscription ...

Last week, I wrote about a report in Bloomberg BNA that the Trump Administration was thinking about letting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission "absorb" the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The idea had some appeal for me because both agencies enforce variants on federal prohibitions against discrimination. But I admitted that I hadn't thought it ...

Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? (Neither did I, but I do now.) Our beloved blogger Mallory Schneider Ricci is back at FOCUS, our women's leadership blog, with a post about mental health issues that affect women -- and men -- in the legal profession, and what they can do to take care of themselves.

The March-April Executive Labor Summary is out! David Phippen

NLRB candidates being vetted. Bloomberg BNA reported last night that President Trump has settled on two candidates to fill the two vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board. One is William Emanuel, a shareholder in the Los Angeles Office of the management-side law firm Littler Mendelsohn. Here is a link to his firm bio. The other is Marvin Kaplan, counsel to a Commissioner ...

The Senate has finally confirmed R. Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor, and he is expected to be sworn in tomorrow. (Yay!)

The vote was 60 to 38, meaning that he got some decent bipartisan support.

According to Politico's "Morning Shift," President Trump on Friday night promoted Philip Miscimarra from Acting Chairman to plain old Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board. Congratulations, Chairman!

As of this morning, the NLRB website is still listing him as Acting Chairman.

There are still two vacant seats on the five-member Board, which the President will be able ...