Franchisors received some encouraging news this week from President Trump's Acting Solicitor General, Nicholas Geale. Mr. Geale says that he prefers not to bring enforcement actions based on a theory that franchisors and franchisees are "joint employers." He also said that he hopes the U.S. Department of Labor will focus on helping employers to comply with the law and less on ...

Work card renewal for foreign workers gets easier. First, I neglected last week to include this Immigration Dispatch by Elizabeth Joiner on changes to the process for renewing Employment Authorization Cards (aka "work cards") that should make things easier for foreign workers. Please do read, and, Elizabeth, I apologize for the delay!

The January-February edition of the ...

Yikes. I hope I haven't missed anybody. Wild week!

We hope that the immigrant strikes are about over by now, but they may continue into today, and a women's strike is reportedly set for March 8. Do employers have any recourse when their employees go out on strike? It depends. If the strike is "protected concerted activity" (and it may be), then employers will need to tread carefully and ...

The State of Missouri has now become our 28th right-to-work state, following closely after Kentucky, which took the leap about a month ago.

The Missouri bill was signed into law yesterday by Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, and is scheduled to take effect in August. However, the Missouri AFL-CIO has requested a voter referendum on the measure. If the union gets enough signatures, the ...

NOTE FROM ROBIN: Effective today, I'm officially changing the name of these mini-dispatches about President Trump's first actions related to labor and employment law issues, to "Daily Trumpdate." My first dispatch is here.

President Trump met yesterday with representatives of a number of unions, and according to everyone involved, the meeting went well. It didn't hurt matters that ...

NOTE FROM ROBIN: A portion of Jill's remarks below appeared Tuesday morning in Law360 (paid subscription required).

Notwithstanding what might happen over the next four (or eight) years, there is no question that President Barack Obama has left his mark on labor and employment law in some very important ways. Even if President-Elect Trump’s administration and the ...

Kentucky became the 27th right-to-work state on Saturday. The legislation was passed by the Republican majority in the legislature, with no Democratic support. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed the bill on Saturday, and he's even made a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTswtCeRgs&feature=youtu.be

(What'll they think of next?)

"Right to work" means that an ...

Whether justified or not, the recent spate of high-profile police shooting cases throughout the United States has brought national attention to the issue of whether law enforcement officers should be using body cameras while on duty. Currently, a debate rages among the various stakeholders concerning the pros and cons of body cameras.

Those in favor of body cameras ...

The November-December edition of Constangy's Executive Labor Summary is out! David Phippen has a good one (does he ever have any other kind?), including the current status of the U.S. Department of Labor's overtime rule (sick) and the Persuader Rule (still a pulse, but death is imminent), Secretary Thomas Perez's run for chair of the Democratic National Convention, and some dude in ...

In our December edition of ConstangyTV's Close-Up on Workplace Law, host Leigh Tyson interviews Tommy Eden about the growing number of states that have legalized marijuana use and how employers in "legal pot" states should respond. Please tune in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5a2xqwhU4