And some catching up we have to do!

Everyone is back to school, and our friend David Phippen is back with the July-August edition of the Executive Labor Summary. David has the best summary of the National Labor Relations Board's position on employer handbook policies that I've ever seen. (Well, with the possible exception of the last one he did . . .) Seriously, do check it out. He also has other labor-related goodies, including a couple of good ones on a multi-million-dollar wage-hour settlement -- against the U.S. Department of Labor -- and a slew of unfair labor practice charges filed by union employees against their employer -- a state employees' union. I love it when that happens.

If you're a federal contractor, you absolutely must read Cara Crotty's two latest Affirmative Action Alerts. Yes, she has two, here (the mini) and here (the mega) on the new regulations implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order. This is the one that will require contractors to report to the federal government all of their "Labor Law violations" so that the government can decide whether the contractor is a worthy recipient of the government's continued business. It looks like the regs will create a new bureaucracy for contractors to navigate, and will require reporting of alleged "violations" before they've been finally adjudicated. Fun and games. Before you dig into Cara's in-depth analysis, you might want to get your feet wet with the nice "executive summary" that Louise Davies contributed to this blog on Wednesday.

At the beginning of August, Jeff Rosin, head of our Franchise Industry Group, provided a very helpful overview of franchise law and the current legal climate. Now Jeff has returned with a closer look at the voluntary agreement that Subway entered into with the U.S. Department of Labor. According to Jeff, the agreement makes it more likely that Subway will be found legally responsible for employment law violations committed by its franchisees.