The Visa Bulletin for March 2025 shows continued forward movement in the priority dates for most EB-2 and EB-3 categories.
Archives for February 14, 2025
When Your Job Breaks Your Heart
Professional heartbreak is the loss of something work-related that feels as personally wounding as grief or heartbreak in your personal life. It might involve the death of a dream, like owning your business. Sometimes it’s when your identity seems to escape you through a layoff or a job loss. And sometimes it happens when you don’t get something that you really, really want. This interview with author and podcast host Morra Aarons-Mele delves into why a professional heartbreak can be so devastating, offering stories of people who have gone through them and suggestions for those who may be experiencing one now.
This common tactic people use to get ahead at work is backfiring as coworkers call it ‘creepy’
Clients and workers complain about name repetition being disingenuous, manipulative, and “icky.” Others contend there’s truth in the tactic.
Gen Z is rejecting Boomer work rules in 5 key ways that will help them win at work
Young workers are ‘cheating’ at work, setting work-life boundaries, and prioritizing their mental health.
FMLA Leave Rights Are Available for Some Sibling Relationships
An employee can take Family and Medical Leave Act time off in order to care for an adult sibling when the employee assumes obligations of a parental nature.
Your Boss Doesn’t Hate That You’re Dating a Co-Worker—Survey Says So!
Explore SHRM’s 2025 research on workplace romance trends. Learn how behaviors and attitudes are shifting, as well as how companies communicate policies.
Ohio Now Requires Employers to Provide Detailed Pay Statements
Ohio’s Pay Stub Protection Act, effective April 9, requires employers in the state to provide detailed written or electronic pay statements to their employees.
California Releases Pay Data Reporting Guide for Filers
California’s updated pay data guidance adds a new race/ethnicity category for 2024 reports — “Middle Eastern or North African.” The reports are due May 14.
Illinois Phases Out Subminimum Wage for Workers with Disabilities
Illinois has mandated that subminimum wage authorizations that are otherwise authorized under federal law be phased out until they are completely eliminated.
U.S. Visa Dropbox Eligibility Reverts to Pre-COVID Standard, More Applicants Will Need In-Person Interviews
The U.S. Department of State has unexpectedly updated Consular websites with revised eligibility requirements for Visa Interview Waiver (“dropbox”) appointments.
Effective immediately, dropbox eligibility is limited to applicants renewing a visa in the same nonimmigrant classification that expired within the past 12 months. While no official government announcement has been
New Proposed Regulations Will Impact How Businesses Utilize AI to Make Personnel Decisions
By: New Proposed Regulations Will Impact How Businesses Utilize AI to Make Personnel Decisions
It is no surprise that businesses are seeking ways to utilize AI to increase efficiency, including developing automated decision-making systems to assist in hiring and promotion processes. The California Civil Rights Council is actively working on new laws to address potential employment discrimination based on protected characteristics when using AI in personnel decisions. This includes considerations of whether facially neutral factors (e.g., criminal history) may still constitute discrimination.
On February 7, 2025, the Civil Rights Council published its second round of modifications to proposed employment regulations regarding automated decision systems. For employers in the process of implementing AI to make personnel decisions, here are some notable changes to keep in mind:
- The new definition of an “agent” has been expanded to include any person acting on behalf of an employer, directly or indirectly, to exercise a function traditionally exercised by the employer or any other FEHA-regulated activity. This may include recruitment, applicant screening, hiring, promotion, or other decisions regarding pay, benefits, or leave, including when such activities and decisions are conducted in whole or in part through the use of an automated decision system. This broad definition aims to cover both employers and any third parties assisting employers with AI systems.
- Employers may bear a higher burden of proving they have performed anti-bias testing or similar proactive efforts to avoid unlawful discrimination. “Lack of evidence” could be used against employers who cannot demonstrate concrete efforts to avoid discrimination, including the quality, efficacy, recency, and scope of such efforts, the results of such testing or other actions, and the response to those results.
- Employers must retain AI-related records for a longer period—four years instead of two. These records include all applications, personnel records, employment referral records, selection criteria, automated-decision system data, and other records created or received by the employer or any other covered entity dealing with employment practices that affect any employment benefit, applicant, or employee.
- Employers need to be cautious when using AI to filter out applicants based on protected characteristics (e.g., disabilities for physically demanding jobs). They must demonstrate that the criteria used to exclude applicants are job-related and consistent with business necessity, and that there is no less discriminatory standard, test, or other selection criteria that serves the employer’s goals as effectively.
The deadline to submit public comments to this round of modifications is February 24, 2025.
As AI tools continue to transform workplaces and employers strive to implement AI systems to maximize efficiency, they inevitably encounter various legal pitfalls that are tricky to navigate. It is prudent to work with legal counsel to understand the implications of potential legal liabilities and stay informed about the ever-evolving laws in this area. Feel free to contact Linda Wang or your preferred CDF attorney for a consultation.
NY’s Non-Compete Bill: What Employers Can Expect From a Newly Proposed Ban
TakeawaysA bill to ban employment non-competes for all but highly compensated individuals is being considered by the New York state legislature. Gov. Hochul vetoed a similar bill in 2023, and the latest proposal appears to respond to the veto memo.If passed, the ban will be go into effect 30 days after it is signed by the governor and apply only to new or modified non-competes, not retroactively.Related links
Is the cybersecurity of employee benefit plans the employer’s problem?
Is the cybersecurity of employee benefit plans the employer’s problem?
Unfortunately, U.S. employee benefit plans are prime targets for criminals all over the world. Hackers break into employee benefit accounts and take sensitive data, such as Social Security numbers, and even steal retirement account funds. In some cases, plan participants
New York Proposes Chapter Amendment to Retail Worker Safety Act, Including Sweeping Changes to the Panic Button Requirement
As of February 4, 2025, the New York Senate and Assembly approved a Chapter amendment to the Retail Worker Safety Act (the “Act”), a law that has drawn much attention and caused consternation among employers, legal practitioners, and lawmakers. The proposed Chapter amendment is waiting on Governor Hochul’s signature for
Compliance Training for Title VI
Join Jackson Lewis P.C. attorneys Carol Ashley and Susan Friedfel for a Lorman webinar to learn about Title VI compliance, its legal scope, and best practices to mitigate risks in programs receiving federal funding.