On April 28th, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alex Acosta as the newest Labor Secretary by a somewhat bipartisan vote of 60-38, and he was sworn in the next day. Two of the most important issues Secretary Acosta will need to deal with very soon are the revised rules on the Fair Labor Standards Act white-collar exemptions and the “fiduciary rule” on employee benefit plans.
On March 30th, Alex Acosta was approved by a Senate committee to be the next Secretary of Labor, and the U.S. Senate is to take up his nomination when it reconvenes after the current April recess. The committee’s vote was along party lines, 12-11 in favor of the nomination, even though Mr. Acosta’s nomination was much less controversial than President Trump’s first nominee for Labor, Andrew Puzder. Mr. Acosta was alternately praised and grilled by committee members at a hearing…
The Department of Labor’s appeal of the challenge to its regulations increasing the salary threshold for the white-collar exemptions has been delayed on the Department’s own motion. On February 17th, the DoL asked the U.S. court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit to give it an additional 60 days, until May 1st, to file its reply brief, perhaps because President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary had not yet been confirmed by the Senate. Resolution of the appeal is still probably…
On April 4th, a U.S. court of appeals for the first time allowed a claim of sexual orientation employment discrimination to go forward. The case, Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, was heard by the entire court of appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, and the vote was 8 judges in favor, with 3 dissenting judges. The decision reversed a ruling by a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit. The majority opinion in the case relied mainly on U.S.…
This afternoon Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, withdrew his name from consideration for the post, amid news reports that a number of Republican senators on the committee about to hold hearings on his nomination were withholding their support. The withdrawal came on the very eve of hearings consider his nomination. It is now up to President Trump to nominate another candidate and for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions to start the vetting…
At long last, on Thursday, February 16th a Senate committee is to start confirmation hearings on Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor. Mr. Puzder lives in Tennessee, and was the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. chains. Mr. Puzder is not known as a fan of increasing the minimum wage or of labor regulations affecting fast-food and other businesses. Presumably much more about his views will come out in the hearings starting Thursday.…
From January 22nd on, employers in the U.S. must use a new I-9 form for all new hires. The form is prescribed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and is available in various formats, which can be found at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9, including one that can be filled out online. The new form is dated 11/14/16; the previous form, dated 3/8/13, may not be used after the 22nd, or else. For those not already painfully aware of it, the I-9 must…
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans granted the Department of Labor’s motion to expedite its appeal of the order halting its new overtime rule, and put in place a schedule requiring the parties to file briefs much more quickly than they normally would. The last brief is not be filed until January 31st, The problem for the DoL is that the oral argument before judges of the Court of Appeals would not take place until after…
In the continuing saga of the Department of Labor’s new rule on the salary requirement for the white-collar exemptions, on December 1st the DoL filed a notice of appeal from Judge Mazzant’s order enjoining the enforcement of the rule, and the Fifth Circuit has accepted the appeal. Late on Friday, December 2nd, the Department of Labor filed a motion for an expedited schedule on the appeal, which the State of Nevada, the lead plaintiff contesting the rule, has opposed. Stay…
On Tuesday, November 22nd, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Department of Labor’s rule raising the salary threshold for the white collar exemptions, which was to take effect on December 1st. Judge Mazzant sits in Sherman, Texas, and granted the motion filed by lawyers for 21 states, including Nevada and Texas. The rule is enjoined “pending further order of this Court,” but a preliminary injunction is ordinarily in effect until trial unless the case…