Does the ability to receive remuneration for being a college athlete mean that the students are deemed employees of the university? Do employment laws apply? Are labor laws enforced? Does OSHA enter the equation? What about HIPAA concerns relating to medical conditions and injuries?
Employees are the lifeblood of an organization. Companies, including law firms, are rightfully attempting to navigate what the past two years have meant to the labor force and make sense of the changes to the landscape so that they can successfully manage their businesses. Included in this mix are outsourcing service providers.
Major League Baseball just resolved a contentious dispute between owners and the players union over revenue; both parties had been at odds about how to split up the pie. The challenge of splitting up the pie in law firms is going to become an increasing issue in coming years and perhaps even later in 2022 — particularly if the pie doesn't keep growing.
Companies have open questions about the fate of the Obama-era overtime regulations, despite a Texas federal court ruling nixing rules that would have doubled the salary threshold for workers eligible for time and half pay, and extended greater pay to millions of more workers.
Now What?
Fairly soon, an estimated 150,000 businesses in the United States will receive some bad news: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not be considering their H-1B petitions for skilled foreign workers. The petitions will be rejected without any analysis as to their merits. Yet these businesses with a clear need for temporary help will have to explore other ways to keep their prospective or current employee working for their company, or face the possibility that the foreign worker may be forced to return home.
Looking at a Case in Florida
In February of this year, a Florida appeals court upheld a decision by Gov. Rick Scott's administration that Uber drivers are independent contractors and not employees. In terms of the law, the decision was hardly revolutionary. It did, however, highlight the importance of properly classifying workers. Indeed, failure to properly classify workers can have staggering financial consequences for a business that operates on a model that relies heavily on a large number of independent contractors.
Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, who was confirmed by the Senate late last month, is a veteran government official who is set to hit the ground the running. What direction can labor and employment attorneys expect him to take the agency charged with enforcing many of the nation's workplace laws, and what are issues to watch in the early days?
At the end of last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for the first time in 14 years updated its Guidance on national origin discrimination. The Guidance serves as a road map for employers on how the EEOC will investigate national origin discrimination charges. As a result, employers are wise to review the new Guidance to ensure that their anti-discrimination policies can withstand an EEOC investigation.
How to Investigate
When suspicions of employee data theft arise, it is important to engage a computer forensics expert to perform a theft-of-IP analysis in order to preserve electronic data and uncover important evidence.
Is a corporate employee who reports an employer's possible violation of the securities laws to a supervisor or internal compliance officer — but not to the SEC — considered a "whistleblower" entitled to protection from retaliation under Dodd-Frank? Courts that have considered this question have reached differing conclusions.
