Executive Summary: March Madness, the NCAA Division 1 college basketball tournament, is rapidly approaching. Second in betting popularity only to the Super Bowl, some have predicted as much as $3 billion will be bet on workplace bracket pools during March Madness this year.
Is the New Employer Tax Credit for You?
Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), businesses are entitled to a general business credit which is made up of several component credits, including the Work Opportunity Credit, the Indian Employment Credit, credits for employing and housing employees affected by Hurricane Katrina, and a number of others. The recently-enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA” or the “Act”) added a new component credit for businesses that qualify – the Paid Family and Medical Leave Credit (“FML Credit”).
Be My Valentine! – BUT First Please Review and Sign Below
Executive Summary: This Valentine’s Day, employers across industries are reevaluating their workplace dating and sexual harassment policies. Various surveys show that 40 percent of workers date or have dated co-workers. With the recent surge in sexual harassment allegations, evolution of the #MeToo movement, and ongoing legislative reform, it is crucial that employers remain proactive in setting boundaries around interoffice relationships. Employers can minimize liability associated with interoffice relationships by establishing clear policies, providing annual training for employees and managers, improving procedures to report sexual harassment complaints, and monitoring developments in relevant legislation and case law.
Eleventh Circuit Allows Employer to Share Employee’s Tips as Long as It Pays Employee Minimum Wage
Federal regulations currently treat tips as the employee’s property, regardless of whether the employer pays that employee the minimum wage or whether it uses a tip credit to satisfy the minimum wage requirement. Recently, the federal Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a rule that, if passed this year, would allow employers to require the sharing of tips with employees who do not customarily receive direct tips (such as restaurant cooks, dish washers, and similar workers), so long as the employer pays employees the full federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Employers who use the tip credit option to satisfy the minimum wage obligation would not be allowed to require tip sharing with workers who do not customarily receive tips.
New Jersey Extends Workplace Protections to Breastfeeding Mothers
Executive Summary: New Jersey extends workplace protections to breastfeeding mothers, requiring employers of all sizes to provide employees with time and space to express breastmilk.
New HHS Division to Focus on Health Care Workers’ Religious or Moral Objections to Providing Certain Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the formation of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division of the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The new division will review complaints from medical professionals who object on religious or moral grounds to participating in the provision of certain services and/or to certain patients. HHS has also released proposed regulations that would increase the OCR’s responsibility and enforcement power as to existing federal health care antidiscrimination laws involving protections for health care workers related to services such as abortion, sterilization, and assisted suicide.
The Race is on to File H-1B Work Visas on April 1, 2018
Executive Summary: We are releasing this Alert to remind employers of the fast-approaching April 1, 2018, opening date for filing H-1B work visa petitions on behalf of foreign employees who need sponsorship for work authorization in the U.S. this year. Since April 1, 2018, falls on a Sunday this year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should start accepting H-1B petitions on the following business day, Monday, April 2, 2018.
Maryland’s Healthy Working Families Act Requires Employers in the State to Provide Sick/Safe Leave
Executive Summary: On January 12, 2018, the Maryland Legislature overrode Governor Hogan’s 2017 veto of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (the “Act”). As a result, Maryland employers with 15 or more employees are now required to provide for up to 40 hours of paid sick leave on annual basis to eligible employees, and employers with 14 or fewer employees must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick/safe leave on an annual basis to eligible employees. In addition to the sick leave requirement, the Act imposes notification and recordkeeping requirements and sets out a significant enforcement scheme that includes the potential imposition of treble damage penalties for violations.
New Year – New Wage Hour Opinions (Sort Of)
Executive Summary: In a change from the prior administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Friday reinstated nearly 20 “opinion letters” previously published under the Bush administration, but withdrawn prior to implementation by the Obama administration. The U.S. DOL also issued field bulletins providing new guidance on enforcement positions. The reissued letters predominately focus on specific industries; however, three of opinions generally apply to all employers. Below is a brief summary of each opinion.
NLRB Tosses “Overwhelming Community of Interest” Standard and Returns to the “Traditional Community of Interest” Standard in Determining Appropriate Bargaining Units
Executive Summary: On December 15, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) overruled Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB 934 (2011), which required an “overwhelming community of interest” when determining the appropriateness of a bargaining unit, and returned to the “traditional community of interest” standard that the Board has applied throughout most of history. See PCC Structurals, Inc. and International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, District Lodge W24, Case 19-RC-202188.
Another Employer Deduction Bites the Dust
You have probably heard about the many tax deductions that you are losing (or have lost) as a result of the new tax law (known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA). But, if you are an employer, one that you may not have heard about – or may not have had reason to hear about – is loss of the Federal income tax deduction for amounts paid in settlement of claims relating to sexual harassment and/or sexual abuse, as well as attorneys’ fees paid with respect to any such settlement or payment, if the settlement or payment is subject to a nondisclosure agreement.
Will the Justice Department’s Attack on Marijuana Impact New Jersey Employers?
Executive Summary: On January 4, 2018—just days after California began selling recreational marijuana and became poised to become the largest legal market for the drug in the U.S.—the Department of Justice changed tactics on marijuana enforcement by rescinding the “Cole Memo” and other internal guidelines. Issued in 2013, the Cole Memo de-prioritized federal marijuana enforcement efforts to, among other things, prevent distribution of marijuana to minors; prevent marijuana revenue from funding criminal enterprises; prevent marijuana from moving from legal states; and prevent violence related to growing or distributing marijuana.
U.S. DOL Endorses Primary Beneficiary Test for Internships
Executive Summary: Recently, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will adhere to a new test for determining whether interns qualify as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA requires for-profit employers to pay “employees” for their work; however, whether interns or students qualify as “employees,” and, thus, are entitled to compensation for services provided, has been the subject of considerable litigation. In its statement, the DOL abandoned the six-factor test it instituted in 2010, and instead endorsed the “primary beneficiary” test which was established by the Second Circuit in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. Further, the DOL stated that the Wage and Hour Division’s investigators will “holistically analyze internships on a case-by-case basis.” This is a strategic change in the DOL’s enforcement policies to align its procedures with several circuit court decisions.
End of the Year Updates from the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration
Executive Summary: The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a flurry of announcements to close out 2017. In addition to recapping several previous publications, the FAA released a new Advisory Circular on its voluntary disclosure reporting program.
Handbooks – NLRB Gives Some Control Back to Employers
Executive Summary: On December 14, 2017, in a 3-2 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) overruled the “reasonably construe” standard it established in Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia, 343 NLRB 646 (2004), to determine whether a facially neutral rule or handbook policy violates an employee’s Section 7 rights. See The Boeing Company and Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFTPE Local 2001, Cases 19-CA-090932, 19-CA-090948, and 19-CA-095296.