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Takeaways

  • President Trump issued a record-breaking number of executive orders in his first 100 days, many of which significantly impact labor and employment law.
  • New DEI-related executive orders require employers—particularly federal contractors—to certify compliance with anti-discrimination laws and may trigger increased scrutiny of hiring practices.
  • Federal agencies are moving away from the “disparate impact” theory of liability, signaling potential shifts in how employment discrimination cases are litigated and defended.
  • Leadership changes at the EEOC and NLRB have left both agencies without quorums, limiting their ability to enact new rules or pursue major litigation.

On November 5, 2024, President Donald J. Trump achieved something that many did not think possible when he was elected to a second, non-consecutive term to be the President of the United States. In his campaign, President Trump promised to reshape the federal government and aggressively influence and change many areas of law with executive action. Subsequently, President Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders (“EOs”) that cover a multitude of legal, administrative, and other areas of law. One area in which the EOs have had a direct impact is in the labor and employment field.

Since President Trump took his second oath of office, he signed and implemented more than 140 EOs in the first 100 days of his presidency—a number that eclipses all previous records, including former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s record of 99 EOs in the first 100 days set in 1933. Many of President Trump’s EOs are still in effect, while other of these second-term EOs are facing numerous challenges in the U.S. federal court system.

Below is a summary of the most impactful EOs issued during President Trump’s first 100 days in office related to labor and employment law, along with a brief analysis on how they may impact private employers, companies, and individual workers in the employment sphere. All private employers and their human resource teams should familiarize themselves with these changes to ensure compliance with applicable federal laws, in addition to any additional U.S. local or state laws.Continue Reading The First 100 Days of President Trump’s Second Presidency: Re-Shaping Federal Employment Policies

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace

The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance guidelines on harassment in the Workplace were issued on April 29, 2024. In the guidance, the EEOC presents a legal analysis of standards for harassment and employer liability applicable to claims of harassment under the EEO statutes enforced by the Commission. The guidance sets forth the EEOC’s position on its definition of “protected characteristics” and identifies workplace behaviors that rise to the level of harassment. These include prohibitions on work-related harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; sexual orientation; and gender identity), national origin, disability, genetic information, and age (40 or over).Continue Reading Labor and Employment 2025 Federal Legal Updates

Last month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC’) unveiled its highly anticipated Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Harassment.

After almost a decade of efforts to update its harassment guidelines, the EEOC’s new guidance delves into topics that are most relevant to the modern workforce. The guidance sets forth the EEOC’s position on its definition of “protected characteristics” and identifies workplace behaviors that rise to the level of harassment. These topics include, for example, the #MeToo movement which swept the nation with well-publicized lawsuits involving sexual harassment and sexual violence and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, where the Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects workers from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.Continue Reading The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Issues New Guidance Regarding In-Office and Virtual Harassment in the Workplace

On August 11, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published proposed regulations in the Federal Register for implementing the PWFA. The EEOC has invited the public to comment on the proposed regulations during a comment period that will close on October 10, 2023. While the regulations are proposed, PWFA has been in full effect since June 27, 2023.Continue Reading EEOC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently published an opinion addressing reassignment of an employee with a disability to a vacant position as a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). EEOC v. Methodist Hospital of Dallas.Continue Reading Reassignment as an Accommodation Under the Americans with Disabilities Act – Reasonable or Not

On October 20, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled a new version of the “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster which updates and replaces the previous “EEO is the Law” poster. This poster also supersedes an October 19, 2022, version of the “Know Your Rights” poster.

Covered employers are required to…

As infections during the worldwide COVID pandemic have waxed and waned, and as vaccinations and new treatments for COVID infection have been introduced, employers have begun to see a substantial increase in the number of employees that have returned to work. That, in turn, has caused many employers to re-evaluate their COVID testing protocols to determine who may return to the office and when.
Continue Reading EEOC Limits Permissible Workplace COVID Testing In Its Most Recent Guidance

Ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the promise of an effective vaccine has been held out as a key component to a return to normality. Now, with the Pfizer vaccine approved, and the Moderna vaccine on the path to approval shortly, employers have begun struggling to determine what their legal obligations are towards employees who refuse to be vaccinated. While we have addressed these issues recently in a Dec. 16 webinar, the EEOC issued guidance to employers in the form of a Technical Assistance Bulletin to clarify how employers should address employee objections to vaccination that arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, or the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. While that guidance is not binding upon employers or the Courts, it is nonetheless useful to employers contemplating the legal restrictions that may exist in addressing vaccination in the workplace.
Continue Reading EEOC Issues Technical Assistance Regarding Vaccination and Anti-Discrimination Laws

The EEOC has been regularly updating its Technical Assistance Questions and Answers entitled “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.” This guidance is only valid during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was most recently updated on September 8, 2020. While the full guidance is worth a thorough read by HR professionals and attorneys, the following summarizes ten key highlights from the EEOC’s guidance:
Continue Reading 10 Things You Should Know About the EEOC’s COVID-19 Guidance