Policy Matters

On this episode of the Policy Matters Podcast, Seattle Partner Adam Lasky joins DC Senior Counsel Scott Hecker to discuss the Eleventh Circuit’s decision narrowing the nationwide injunction of Executive Order 14042, how the government has responded to that decision, what COVID-19 risk mitigation protocols may be required for federal contractor employees, and how employers should prepare moving for...

The classification of workers as either independent contractors or employees has been a nationally salient issue for decades, but especially so since the explosion of the so-called gig economy. Until January 6, 2021, the fair labor standards act did not provide a regulatory definition of what constitutes an independent contractor that is not subject to various federal employment laws. On that date...

On this episode of the Policy Matters Podcast, the Scotts, Messrs. Hecker and Mallery, discuss Senator Bernie Sanders efforts to resurrect the idea of preventing employers who have labor law violations from contracting with the federal government. President Obama’s Executive Order 13673 - dubbed the “Blacklisting Order” - and its implementing regulations fell victim to the Congressional Review Act...

On March 18, 2022, the Federal Register published the U.S. Department of Labor’s notice of proposed rulemaking, “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations.” Among a laundry list of revisions, DOL is proposing to reinstate the “30% rule,” last used in 1983, for calculating prevailing wages under the Act. In this episode of the Policy Matters Podcast, Scott Hecker and Ted North break dow...

On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed H.R. 4445, marking the first time in a long time that our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. have passed a piece of significant legislation through regular order. Seyfarth’s employment lawyers Scott Mallery and Rob Szyba discuss the newly-enacted H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. Rob and S...

In this episode, Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor & Employment department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento, CA office, and Honore Hishamunda, Senior Associate in the Labor & Employment department of Seyfarth’s Atlanta office, discuss the current debate surrounding the construction of liability shields to designed protect employers against claims by employees that COVID-19 was contracted at the workplac...

In this episode, Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor and Employment Department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, and Chuck Guzak, Associate in the Labor and Employment Department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discuss the recent memorandum released by NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo regarding her position that certain college athletes are employees under the National Labor Relations Act...

In this podcast, Seyfarth partner Leon Rodriguez discusses the potential humanitarian immigration options for Afghans fleeing or seeking to flee their country in the aftermath of the US drawdown. Leon discusses Special Immigrant Visa status, refugee options and humanitarian paroles, while also providing guidance for employers who either wish to sponsor or otherwise support Afghan refugees in vario...

In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor & Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, and Ashley Cano, Partner in the Labor & Employment department of Seyfarth’s Chicago office, discuss labor law issues surrounding vaccine mandates. Ashley and Scott continue the Podcast’s exploration of potential ramifications from a fully-approved COVID-19 vaccine, and they ident...

In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor & Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, and Adam Young, Partner in the Labor & Employment department of Seyfarth’s Chicago office, discuss workplace safety issues surrounding vaccine mandates. Adam and Scott explore the potential impacts of a fully-approved COVID-19 vaccine, and how employers, including the federal gov...

In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, and Karla Grossenbacher, Partner and chair of the Washington, DC, office’s Labor and Employment practice, head of the firm’s Workplace Privacy team, and co-chair of the firm’s Workplace Biometric Privacy Compliance and Litigation group, discuss employment law issues surrounding...

In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, and Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, discuss the U.S. DOL nominations of Doug Parker to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health and David Weil to return to his prior position as Wage...

In this two-part episode, Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, Jennifer Mora, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s San Francisco office, and Stanley Jutkowitz, Senior Counsel in the Corporate and Real Estate Departments of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discuss the various bills pending before Congress that...

In this two-part episode, Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, Jennifer Mora, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s San Francisco office, and Stanley Jutkowitz, Senior Counsel in the Corporate and Real Estate Departments of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discuss the various bills pending before Congress that...

The Biden administration’s infrastructure plan includes a significant amount of money ($100 billion) for incentives for customers to purchase EVs, along with $15 billion specifically allocated to the installation of a half a million chargers across the country. The latter is a particularly important component of the Biden administration’s EV push because consumer surveys consistently show that cha...

In this podcast episode, Ashley Cano, Partner in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Chicago office, and John Phillips, Senior Associate in the firm’s Houston office, discuss the National Labor Relations Board’s changing view of the scope of protected concerted activity. With a new Acting General Counsel in charge at the NLRB, the Board is already beginning to shift its focus and pro...

In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, and Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, discuss the nominations of Julie Su for Deputy Secretary of Labor and Seema Nanda as Solicitor of Labor. Marty Walsh was sworn in as the 29th U.S. Secretary of Labor on March 23,...

In this two-part episode, Kevin Young, Partner in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Atlanta office, and Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discuss the impact on employers of the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s decision to end PAID, a self-audit program that allowed good-faith employers to resolv...

In this two-part episode, Kevin Young, Partner in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Atlanta office, and Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discuss the impact on employers of the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s decision to end PAID, a self-audit program that allowed good-faith employers to resolv...

In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, and Scott Mallery, Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, discuss the impact of moderate Democratic senators’ independence on President Biden’s nominees and policy objectives. Despite Democrats’ controlling the White House and both house...

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, known as the PRO Act, was first introduced in February 2020 but flew somewhat under the radar given the onset of the pandemic. On February 4, 2021, House Democrats reintroduced the PRO Act in essentially the same form. In this episode, Scott Mallery, Counsel in Seyfarth’s Sacramento office, and Kyllan Kershaw, Partner in Seyfarth’s Atlanta office, discuss...

During his first full day in office, President Biden issued Executive Order 13999, directing OSHA to consider whether a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) is necessary and, if so, to issue one by March 15. In this episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in Seyfarth’s Washington, D.C. office, provides an overview of Emergency Temporary Standards, how a COVID-19 ETS might impact existing stan...

In this two-part episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discusses the inner workings of U.S. DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs with its former director, Craig Leen, who headed the office from December 2018 through the end of the Trump Administration. In part two, Scott and Craig discuss the anticipated po...

Episode 8 – In this two-part episode, Scott Hecker, Senior Counsel in the Labor and Employment department of Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, discusses the inner workings of U.S. DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs with its former director, Craig Leen, who headed the office from December 2018 through the end of the Trump Administration. In part one, Scott and Craig look at the OF...

With the new Biden Administration and Democrats now controlling Congress, employers can expect President Biden to move as quickly as possible to appoint Democratic Members to the NLRB. Currently, the Board has three Republican members, one Democratic member, and one vacancy. President Biden is well positioned to flip the majority composition of the Board by the end of this year. When he does so, e...