May 10, 2023
After six weeks of negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), effective 12:01 A.M. on May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America called for its members to go on strike—the first Hollywood strike in fifteen years.[1] The Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America, East are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television,…
May 5, 2023
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) reversed a significant 2020 decision and revived its earlier decisions affording employees different treatment when engaging in abusive or offensive conduct in the course of protected Section 7 activities. Specifically, employers may be prohibited from addressing abusive or offensive conduct by an employee in the course of protected activities, even if…
May 1, 2023
On April 20, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion, in Crozer Chester Medical Center v. NLRB, finding that two employers violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by refusing to produce portions of an Asset Purchase Agreement (“APA”) requested by a union.
By way of background, Crozer-Chester Medical Center (“Crozer”)—a nonprofit healthcare…
April 27, 2023
The Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Bill (SB) 7 on April 24, 2023, and it now heads to Governor Holcomb’s desk for signature. If signed into law, SB 7 would (i) ban noncompete agreements between a primary care physician and employer, (ii) render a noncompete agreement unenforceable upon certain events and (iii) specify a process by which a physician or employer may pursue mediation to…
March 30, 2023
On February 2, 2023, we shared that the Biden Administration announced it plans to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and the related National Emergency on May 11, 2023. (https://www.jacksonkelly.com/labor-employment-personnel-blog/preparing-group-health-plans-for-the-end-of-covid-19-emergency-periods.) Yesterday, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the…
March 16, 2023
The Fourth Circuit issued a decision yesterday, reinforcing a plaintiff’s burden in employment discrimination cases. In Balderson v. Lincare Inc., No. 21-1753 (4th Cir. Mar. 15, 2023), a three-judge panel reversed the trial court’s conclusion that Chandra Balderson’s termination from employment was the result of discriminatory animus based on her sex. The trial court reached this conclusion after…
February 22, 2023
As part of the omnibus spending bill for FY 2023, Congress passed new protections for pregnant employees and nursing mothers in the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the bills into law.
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The PWFA was enacted to address the gap between the…
February 22, 2023
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the workforce is divided into two groups: (1) hourly, non-exempt employees, who are entitled to overtime compensation for any time worked in excess of forty hours per week; and (2) salaried, exempt employees who are not entitled to overtime compensation. In order to classify someone as a salaried exempt employee, that person must be paid on a “salary…
January 25, 2023
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court received oral argument addressing the question of whether the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) preempts a state-court lawsuit against a union for intentionally destroying an employer’s property during a labor dispute. In one of the most highly-anticipated labor cases before the Court in decades, the justices will decide Glacier Northwest, Inc. v.…
January 6, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission Moves on Non-Competes
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its proposed rulemaking on unfair methods of competition aimed at limiting the use of non-compete clauses between employers and employees. The FTC’s action follows President Biden’s July 9, 2021 Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” directing the FTC use…
February 18, 2022
Last month, the Supreme Court lifted the stay regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) vaccine mandate for providers participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to require their employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.[1] However, several states, including West Virginia, have recently adopted statutes that interfere with employers’ ability to implement mandatory…
August 17, 2021
Non-competition agreements have recently come under attack at both the federal and state level. Last year, for example, Indiana passed a law providing greater restrictions on non-compete agreements related to healthcare professionals. At the federal level, in July President Biden issued an executive order that,among many other competition-focused objectives, encourages the Federal Trade…
May 10, 2023
After six weeks of negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), effective 12:01 A.M. on May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America called for its members to go on strike—the first Hollywood strike in fifteen years.[1] The Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America, East are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television,…
May 5, 2023
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) reversed a significant 2020 decision and revived its earlier decisions affording employees different treatment when engaging in abusive or offensive conduct in the course of protected Section 7 activities. Specifically, employers may be prohibited from addressing abusive or offensive conduct by an employee in the course of protected activities, even if…
May 1, 2023
On April 20, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion, in Crozer Chester Medical Center v. NLRB, finding that two employers violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by refusing to produce portions of an Asset Purchase Agreement (“APA”) requested by a union.
By way of background, Crozer-Chester Medical Center (“Crozer”)—a nonprofit healthcare…
April 27, 2023
The Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Bill (SB) 7 on April 24, 2023, and it now heads to Governor Holcomb’s desk for signature. If signed into law, SB 7 would (i) ban noncompete agreements between a primary care physician and employer, (ii) render a noncompete agreement unenforceable upon certain events and (iii) specify a process by which a physician or employer may pursue mediation to…
March 30, 2023
On February 2, 2023, we shared that the Biden Administration announced it plans to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and the related National Emergency on May 11, 2023. (https://www.jacksonkelly.com/labor-employment-personnel-blog/preparing-group-health-plans-for-the-end-of-covid-19-emergency-periods.) Yesterday, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the…
March 16, 2023
The Fourth Circuit issued a decision yesterday, reinforcing a plaintiff’s burden in employment discrimination cases. In Balderson v. Lincare Inc., No. 21-1753 (4th Cir. Mar. 15, 2023), a three-judge panel reversed the trial court’s conclusion that Chandra Balderson’s termination from employment was the result of discriminatory animus based on her sex. The trial court reached this conclusion after…
February 22, 2023
As part of the omnibus spending bill for FY 2023, Congress passed new protections for pregnant employees and nursing mothers in the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the bills into law.
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The PWFA was enacted to address the gap between the…
February 22, 2023
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the workforce is divided into two groups: (1) hourly, non-exempt employees, who are entitled to overtime compensation for any time worked in excess of forty hours per week; and (2) salaried, exempt employees who are not entitled to overtime compensation. In order to classify someone as a salaried exempt employee, that person must be paid on a “salary…
January 25, 2023
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court received oral argument addressing the question of whether the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) preempts a state-court lawsuit against a union for intentionally destroying an employer’s property during a labor dispute. In one of the most highly-anticipated labor cases before the Court in decades, the justices will decide Glacier Northwest, Inc. v.…
January 6, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission Moves on Non-Competes
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its proposed rulemaking on unfair methods of competition aimed at limiting the use of non-compete clauses between employers and employees. The FTC’s action follows President Biden’s July 9, 2021 Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” directing the FTC use…
February 18, 2022
Last month, the Supreme Court lifted the stay regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) vaccine mandate for providers participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to require their employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.[1] However, several states, including West Virginia, have recently adopted statutes that interfere with employers’ ability to implement mandatory…
August 17, 2021
Non-competition agreements have recently come under attack at both the federal and state level. Last year, for example, Indiana passed a law providing greater restrictions on non-compete agreements related to healthcare professionals. At the federal level, in July President Biden issued an executive order that,among many other competition-focused objectives, encourages the Federal Trade…
