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A skilled labor and employment attorney and highly educated labor management scholar, Rob advises clients across the United States, including closely held companies, publicly traded corporations, local units of government, K-12 school districts, charter schools, community colleges, and state universities.

On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion on the application for stay filed in National Federal of Independent Business v. Department of Labor. In that opinion, a six-member majority of the Court ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had exceeded its authority in issuing an emergency technical standard requiring the vaccination of employees of larger employers.
Continue Reading Off Again: United States Supreme Court Blocks OSHA COVID-19 ETS

A few things employers should consider as the New Year approaches

As a new year approaches, one thing many have in common is wondering about what lies ahead. Here are just a few things employers should be considering. The overarching theme? Compliance.

Every year, laws change. For employers, these changes flag new compliance issues. This year, perhaps more than any in recent history, this exercise is more critical. Congress is primed to enact new laws in the pending infrastructure package which has, in part, set this in motion. The Biden Administration and the President’s appointments to various agencies have also dramatically made this concern even more important. These changes will require employers to review how they have been operating over the years, and how these statutory and other legal developments will require them to alter their practices going forward. This article highlights a few of these items.Continue Reading Labor & Employment Compliance in 2022

The Solicitor of Labor has commented that the ETS is expected to be published in the coming weeks. The ETS will go into effect immediately upon publication except for those states with their own OSHA-type laws. Those states will have up to 30 days to conform their laws to the federal edict, and once they do so, the edict will apply to the same employers subject to the federal order, plus other employers the states choose to extend the rule to, such as public employers.
Continue Reading To Vax or Not to Vax: No Longer a Question for Larger Private Employers Under Biden’s Vaccine Mandate

On July 29, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule rescinding the Trump Administration’s Joint Employer rule. This move clearly reestablishes the DOL’s quest to broaden the scope of potential liability for businesses under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for the wrongs of their subcontractors, franchisees and other entities. This move is consistent with the Biden Administration’s trend to reinstate the measures taken under the FLSA by the Obama Administration, including those taken to broaden the scope of who could be deemed joint employers under the FLSA. The rule promulgated by the Trump Administration had replaced an Administrator’s Guidance issued by the Wage and Hour Administrator of the Obama Administration, David Weil. Consistent with this trend, David Weil has been nominated to serve the current administration in the same role he held during the Obama Administration.
Continue Reading DOL Rescinds Trump-Era Joint Employer Rule: Employers Beware!

The Problem

The Biden DOL is primed to aggressively pursue errors made with respect to the payment of overtime compensation as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). While doing so, it’s also primed to assert claims for liquidated damages whenever it finds errors, even for errors that were inadvertent, and even for those that may seem nominal. These liquidated damages are equal to the amount of unpaid overtime its investigators deem due.Continue Reading Lessening Liability for Unpaid Overtime Pay Claims: The Best Defense is a Good Offense

In this episode of Insights & Updates, Robert Boonin, from Dykema’s Labor & Employment Group, and James Brandell, a Government Policy Advisor in Dykema’s Washington, D.C., office, discuss the evolving legal standards for determining who are “independent contractors” versus “employees” in the eyes of the courts, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This is critical due to the Biden Administration’s apparent view being that many independent contractors are really misclassified employees, and such misclassifications expose employers to substantial liability.
Continue Reading Insights & Updates – Independent Contractor Changes

Today’s Insights & Updates chat highlights critical issues both unionized and non-unionized employers need to understand. In this episode, Robert Boonin, from Dykema’s Labor & Employment group, along with James Brandell, who is a Government Policy Advisor in Dykema’s Washington, D.C., office, discuss all things related to how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is priming itself to dramatically change current labor law principles, as well as how the Protecting the Rights to Organize Act (PRO Act) would redesign the longstanding rules and processes under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to make it easier for unions to organize employees.
Continue Reading Insights & Updates—National Labor Relations Board & PRO Act Legislation

On March 8, President Biden took his first steps in reversing the Trump Administration’s Title IX policy by issuing an Executive Order 14021 (“Order”) directing the Secretary of Education to review the Title IX rules issued by the Trump Administration.
Continue Reading Change is Near: What the Biden Executive Order Means for Title IX Misconduct Claims