Monthly Archives: June 2017

U.S. Department of Labor Signals Coming Changes

On June 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) made two announcements that signal a change of direction for the new Administration. First, the DOL announced in a press release that it would return to its decades-long practice of issuing “opinion letters,” which provide employers formal, written guidance on specific labor law issues. Second, the DOL began the process for seeking public notice and comment on the Obama DOL’s rule increasing the salary threshold for overtime exemptions,… More

Supreme Court Narrows, But Declines to Stay, Injunctions Blocking Travel Ban Executive Order

On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court entered an order that narrowed, but declined to stay, two preliminary injunctions prohibiting enforcement of various provisions of President Trump’s March 6, 2017 Executive Order entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” (the “EO-2”). Nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can continue to enter the U.S.… More

DOL Withdraws Obama-Era Guidance on Joint Employment and Independent Contractors

On June 7, 2017, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it is withdrawing the prior Administration’s guidance on joint employment and independent contractors. The Obama Administration had issued Administrator’s Interpretations (“AI”) in 2015 and 2016 that demonstrated its expansive view of who was an “employer” and “employee” for purposes of compliance under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). “Joint employment” had been broadly defined to capture certain relationships between associated companies and companies that use third parties for labor.… More