by Kristine Nazir The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced its final rule altering the existing H-1B Cap selection process. The final rule will replace the current random selection process with a new salary-based ranking system. In lieu of a random lottery, USCIS would rank the cap registrations based on prevailing wage levels, first
Read More
by Christine Self As schools and other employers continue or transition back to remote school and teleworking with the latest spikes in COVID-19 cases, employers must consider several employment issues about employee rights under those conditions. There are many considerations for employers as they request or require their employees to telework or when employees request
Read More
by John Reynolds This is a reminder for our St. Louis City private employers that St. Louis City Ordinance 71074, which prohibits St. Louis City employers from basing job hiring or promotion decisions on applicant’s criminal histories, recently went into effect on January 1, 2021. Similar ordinances are already in place in Columbia and Kansas
Read More
by Kristine Nazir On December 31, 2020, President Trump extended Proclamation 10052 until March 31, 2021. Proclamation 10052 suspended the entry of certain H-1B, L-1, and J-1 visa holders into the United States in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, it is unknown if President-elect Biden will rescind the Proclamation when he takes
Read More
by Kylie S. Piatt and Christine Self As the new COVID-19 vaccines have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and are beginning to be administered across the country, employers are wondering whether they can require employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to return to or remain at work. On December 16, 2020, the
Read More
by Jim Layton On a 3-2 party-line vote, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently proposed a substantial revision of Section 12: Religious Discrimination in the EEOC Compliance Manual. The Manual provides comprehensive guidance to EEOC investigators, employers, and employees with regard to EEOC enforcement of the Civil Rights Laws. The current version of the Manual
Read More
by Christine Self Tueth Keeney provided an Insight on Tier 3 Mitigations imposed statewide starting November 20, 2020 by Governor J.B. Pritzker (linked here). While the ISBE initially opined that Tier 3 Mitigation Measures applied to school board meetings, it later reconsidered and on November 24, the ISBE updated its Tier 3 Resurgence Mitigations FAQ
Read More
As recently reported in our firm insight, on December 1, 2020, a federal judge struck down certain policies proposed by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and Department of Homeland Security affecting the H-1B visa program, including changes to the H-1B visa program’s required wage system. In some instances, the new policies resulted in a more
Read More
by Kristine Nazir On December 1, 2020, a federal judge struck down the policies proposed by the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security regarding H-1B visa holders, finding the policies were created in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). The first policy, unveiled by the Department of Labor on October 6, 2020,
Read More
by Christine Self In a press briefing on November 17, 2020, Governor Pritzker announced that Tier 3 Mitigations would be imposed statewide, starting November 20, 2020. Tier 3 Mitigations (linked here) substantially limit capacity for gatherings, close some in-person activities in indoor settings, and reduce capacity at indoor venues allowed to remain open, such as
Read More
