Wage & Hour

Expert Analysis

• 10 DOL Policy And Enforcement Priorities To Expect In 2022

  

  This year, it’s likely the U.S. Department of Labor will approach policy and enforcement aggressively, with a focus on issues like employee classification, overtime exemption, Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary duties, and more, say Timothy Taylor and Tessa Tilton at Holland & Knight.

• Employer's Agenda: Toyota Counsel Talks Worker Retention

  

  Michael Martinez, managing counsel for labor and employment at Toyota Motor North America, discusses how companies and in-house counsel can address the pandemic-related labor shortage, and avoid common pitfalls when implementing wage increases, remote work setups and other well-meaning efforts to attract new workers.

• Employer Timekeeping, Payroll Lessons After Kronos Hack

  

  In light of the recent ransomware attack on workforce management platform Kronos and the ongoing threat of similar breaches, employers must proactively plan for catastrophic outages of timekeeping and payroll systems to ensure continued compliance and minimize business disruptions, say Bridget Blinn-Spears and Christy Rogers at Nexsen Pruet.

• What Workplace Class Settlement Trends Mean For 2022

  

  2021 saw the value of workplace class action settlements reach an all-time high, and employers should prepare for an increasingly challenging legal environment in the coming year, with more class litigation and higher settlement demands as a determined plaintiffs bar, a pro-labor White House and an ongoing pandemic pave the way for fresh pressures, say Gerald Maatman and Jennifer Riley at Seyfarth.

• Justices Correctly Used Shadow Docket In OSHA Vax Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s use of the shadow docket to sink the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers in National Federation of Independent Business v. U.S. Department of Labor was the right procedure given the rule’s time-limited duration — even if the court reached the wrong substantive result, says Peter Fox at Scoolidge Peters.

• What High Court Rulings Mean For Employer Vax Mandates

  

  While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinions on COVID-19 vaccination mandates for private and health care employers offer important guidance on workplace applicability, lower courts’ resolution of the underlying lawsuits could still pose further changes, says Jordann Wilhelm at Radey Law Firm.

• Joint Employer Lessons From Mass. Contractor Test Ruling

  

  The Massachusetts high court’s recent decision in Jinks v. Credico narrows the scope of joint employment by adopting the Fair Labor Standards Act multifactor test in lieu of state law standards, representing rare relief for employers and guiding businesses on how to minimize liability in structuring relationships with subcontractors and vendors, say attorneys at Cooley.

• Contractor Classification Battle Unlikely To Cool Off In 2022

  

  Despite a flurry of activity in the independent contractor classification space, 2021 did not provide the clarity many practitioners hoped for — and this year there appears to be no sign of a cease-fire between those who favor and oppose making it easier to classify workers as contractors, say attorneys at McDermott.

• Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2022: Part 2

  

  Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy continue their discussion of employer priorities for the new year, including plans to mitigate discrimination claims from remote workers, ensure LGBTQ inclusion, adapt vacation policies and more.

• Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2022: Part 1

  

  Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy discuss how a constantly changing employment law landscape — especially concerning COVID-19 issues — requires employer flexibility when addressing priorities for the new year.

• Getting Ahead Of Manual Worker Pay Frequency Claims In NY

  

  As cases interpreting and challenging a New York appellate court’s 2019 pay frequency ruling in Vega v. CM & Associates work their way through the courts, employers of manual workers should consider steps to mitigate the risk of liquidated damages claims for late-issued paychecks, say Kelly Cardin and Jessica Schild at Ogletree.

• What 2021's Top PAGA Rulings Mean For Calif. Employers

  

  Michael Nader at Ogletree discusses how this year’s most significant Private Attorneys General Act decisions from California appellate courts will likely facilitate an upward litigation trend in 2022, even though one particularly important ruling authorized courts to better handle and even dismiss unmanageable PAGA claims.

• 10 Developments That Shaped Employment Law In 2021

  

  Attorneys at Proskauer count down 10 of the most influential employment law developments of the year, each of which is profoundly affecting employers' risk calculations and workplace practices with their employees, with California becoming an even more challenging jurisdiction.