So, never mind about those new FLSA regulations after all?

So, never mind about those new FLSA regulations after all? Federal Court in Texas issues nationwide injunction halting new FLSA salary increase regulations 10 days before they were to take effect. Opponents of the new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations, more than doubling the minimum pay required for common “white collar” exemptions, will have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. On November 22, only 10 days before their December 1, 2016, effective date, a federal court in Texas

read more

DHS Issues Final Rule with Important Changes Benefitting Certain EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Highly Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers

On November 18, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a final rule with provisions that significantly impact certain immigrant and nonimmigrant workers. The new rule can be found at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-11-18/pdf/2016-27540.pdf. The effective date of the new rule is January 17, 2017. In the Executive Summary to the new rule, DHS expresses that the intent of the new rule is to streamline certain processes and to “better enable U.S. employers to employ and retain highly-skilled workers

read more

Employer Alert: Coming Soon! New Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification

On August 25, 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) approved a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The new version will replace the current version of the I-9 form that expired on March 31, 2016, and will be valid for a period of three years through August 31, 2019. USCIS has 90 days from OMB’s approval of the form, in which to update its system and make the form available on its website ( read more

USCIS Proposed Rule for Entrepreneurs

On August 26, 2016, USCIS proposed a new role that would allow certain international entrepreneurs to be considered for parole (temporary permission to be in the U.S.) so that they may start or scale-up their businesses in the U.S. The comment period closed on October 10, 2016. The proposed rule does not take effect until the date indicated in the final rule when a final rule is published in the Federal Register. Under the proposed rule, the Department of Homeland

read more

NLRB Says That Student Assistants at Private Universities Are “Employees,” Can Unionize and Engage In Collective Bargaining

Tueth Keeney Attorney D. Shane Jones will moderate a free webinar on September 13, examining the impact of the decision and its effect on colleges and universities. In a major decision that is expected to expand union activity at colleges and universities, the National Labor Relations Board on August 23 ruled that student assistants at private universities are “employees” for the purposes of the organizing and collective bargaining. The NLRB’s August 23 decision comes in the matter of Graduate

read more

Special Guidance for educational institutions on the new FLSA regulations implemented by the Department of Labor

Update:   Review our new insight post on November 23, 2016 “So, never mind about those new FLSA regulations after all? The Department of Labor’s long-awaited final overtime rules were released this morning.   In the Final Rules, the DOL set the minimum salary level to $913 per week, or $47,476 annually.   The annual salary for highly compensated employees (“HCE”) was increased to $134,000 annually. The DOL also included an automatic update

read more

The DOL Releases the Long-Awaited “Final Rule” and Guidance Documents Related to Overtime Requirements, A Short Summary

Update:   Review our new insight post on November 23, 2016 “So, never mind about those new FLSA regulations after all? The DOL Releases the Long-Awaited “Final Rule” and Guidance Documents Related to Overtime Requirements ““ A Short Summary The Department of Labor’s long-awaited final overtime rules were released this morning.   In the Final Rules, the DOL set the minimum salary level to $913 per week, or $47,476 annually.   The annual

read more

Transgender Students and Title IX: What are School Districts Supposed to Do?

As you have undoubtedly heard by now, on Friday, May 13, 2016, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education (“OCR”) issued joint guidance for schools regarding the treatment of transgender students in the educational environment. The “Dear Colleague” Letter, which is only eight pages long (with nineteen pages of examples from the Office of Safe and Healthy Students), clarifies and confirms the position that the Departments

read more

Revisiting the DOL’s Recent Updates on Joint Employment

In January 2016, the Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage Hour Division, David Weil, published an “Administrator’s Interpretation” on joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).[1] Although the Administrator’s Interpretation (“AI”) does not constitute a regulation and is not legally binding, it has nonetheless received a great deal of commentary and analysis. The attention is warranted since the AI appeared to overtly put the DOL’s stamp of approval on the “fissured workplace“ analysis that

read more

Kameron Murphy and D. Shane Jones Join in Amicus Brief in Federal Action, Urging Court to Issue Injunction in Challenge Against U.S. DOL’s New “Persuader” Rule

Tueth Keeney labor and employment attorneys Kameron Murphy and D. Shane Jones, joined by attorneys from other member firms of the Employment Law Alliance (“ELA”), recently co-authored an amicus brief in Federal Court. The ELA brief encourages the U.S. District Court to issue an injunction against the Department of Labor’s new so-called “persuader” rule. Filed on April 14, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the ELA’s amicus brief supports the plaintiffs

read more