The DC Insider - Employer Update Podcast

Learn the key takeaways from the EEOC hearing on Navigating Employment Discrimination in AI and Automated Systems and additional workplace AI developments.   Joining Nita Beecher are former Vice Chair of EEOC, Leslie Silverman, to discuss the hearing, and Savanna Shuntich, who explains what employers are facing under the new NYC AI law, as well as the recommendations of The Institute for Workplace...

The Agencies take the lead while Congress stalemates. Joining David Fortney are Leslie Silverman, former Vice Chair of the EEOC, who shares key employer takeaways from EEOC’s new  Strategic Enforcement Plan, and John Clifford who unpacks the Federal Trade Commission’s unprecedented proposal to ban noncompete agreements. Employers learn what to expect from these significant new enforcement initiati...

Bipartisan achievement marked the last weeks of the 117th Congress.  With divided government looming, the Congress ended with a series of significant legislative accomplishments and confirming a lot of new judges. Join Nita, David, and Burt as they analyze the impact on employers of the same-sex marriage bill, the long-delayed protections for women at work, and a huge new budget; with funding for...

Divided government returns, with Ds retaining the Senate, and Rs narrowly winning the House. Join David, Nita, and Burt as they analyze the impact of the historic midterm elections on key nominations, forthcoming regulations to pursue the Biden pro-labor agenda and stepped-up oversight by an energized House Labor Committee.   Contact Fortney & Scott: Tweet us at @fortneyscott Follow us on Link...

The Supreme Court heard arguments for 5 ½ hours!  Join David, Nita, and Burt as they distill and condense the various positions taken on Constitutional rights, statutory requirements, the benefits of diversity, the burdens of racial preferences, and the impact on universities, employers, and society of the predicted reversal of precedents.   Contact Fortney & Scott: Tweet us at @fortneyscott F...

 The DOL’s long-awaited Independent Contractor regulations were finally issued and are the subject of the latest episode. Join Burt, and two Fortney Scott experts in Wage and Hour law, John Clifford and Savanna Shuntich, as they unravel and explain the impact of this lengthy, complex, and important regulation on employers and employees... including its chances of becoming final. Contact Fortney &a...

The DC Insider podcast returns with a lively discussion of the latest developments involving the EEOC and Artificial Intelligence.  Join David, Nita, and Burt as they review the EEOC at a critical point—with tensions among the Commissioners, nominees pending required for the Democrats to have a majority, and hearings on new strategic enforcement priorities.  Meanwhile, AI developments are accelera...

For this special Labor Day episode of the DC Insider - Employer Update Podcast, David sits down with highly regarded DC Insider and labor relations expert Roger King to discuss the current state of labor generally and the Biden Administration’s push to support unions specifically.   King, currently the Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for HR Policy Association, is a nationally known author and...

OFCCP received a FOIA request for 5-years of EEO-1 Reports. Federal contractors must object to the request by Sept. 19 or the data will be released. Join David, Nita, and Burt as they review the latest judicial interpretations of FOIA and the ways contractors can preserve their data from being disclosed. Contact Fortney & Scott: Tweet us at @fortneyscott Follow us on LinkedIn Email us at info@...

The NAS Report, evaluating the EEOC’s Pay Data Collection, was finally released on July 28, 2022. Nita brings her special experience as a member of the initial NAS panel and joins David and Burt to discuss the NAS Panel’s often critical conclusions and its sweeping recommendations for reconstructing the entire data collection process. The team then previews what employers can expect if and when a...

The implications for employers of the momentous Supreme Court rulings are the subject of the latest episode. David, Nita, and Burt discuss the impact of the abortion, environment, and religious freedom decisions on employee health plans, travel benefits, Title VII protections, the diminished role of federal regulation of the workplace, and broadly expanded religious exercise rights for employees....

This year has featured major equal pay settlements, including Google’s recent $118 million settlement with female employees.  FortneyScott attorneys Nita Beecher and Savanna Shuntich talk us through some of the biggest settlements and why listeners should be paying attention.  They round out their discussion with an analysis of the new trend in state pay transparency laws. Contact Fortney & Sc...

With a divided and often resistant Congress, many expected the Federal agencies to aggressively implement the Biden Administration’s agenda.  However, the results to date are mixed.   David, Burt, and Nita review the latest from the NLRB, EEOC, OFCCP, Wage and Hour, the new DOJ criminal investigation of employment practices, and the implementation of the USMCA international labor penalties by USTR...

The first oversight hearing of the Biden Administration’s EEOC and OFCCP was held by the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services.  FortneyScott attorney Savanna Shuntich attended the hearing and reports on the most significant developments. Then, based on the issues raised during the hearing, David, Burt, and Nita discuss what to expect from EEOC once (if) the third Democratic Commis...

OFCCP in the past several weeks has finally revised its compliance procedure in the way we expected of the Biden Administration.  Our last episode discussed the agency’s new directive on compliance.  This week, David, Nita, and FS Attorney Liz Bradley discuss OFCCP’s other new initiatives: opening the Contractor Portal for certification, the directive on compliance evaluations, and revising predet...

David, Nita, and Burt focused on the Biden Administration’s pay equity initiatives rolled out on Equal Pay Day (March 15th).  The requirements of OFCCP’s new compensation directive and its possible impact on contractors’ certification was the primary discussion.  In addition, the three also reviewed EEOC Chair Burrows’ outline of the agency’s achievements regarding pay discrimination over the past...

The historically broad and coordinated efforts by many NUMEROUS Federal agencies under the Biden Administration to support workers’ rights and union organizing are discussed by Nita, David, and Burt.  A special focus is the integrated actions of agencies not usually involved in workplace matters, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Treasury, Department of Just...

The DOL’s Wage & Hour Division has been re-making itself to reflect Pres. Biden’s “pro-worker” agenda.  Join Burt, and W&H specialists Liz Bradley and John Clifford in their discussion of new initiatives to impose Project Labor Agreements, expand and enforce the Davis-Bacon Act, re-write regulations defining independent contractors, AND make sense of the leadership vacuum at the Division....

The role of affirmative action is being hotly debated, and employers likely will need to revamp their traditional affirmative action programs.  Join David, Nita, and Burt in their discussion of the evolving social and political responses to President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, the pending challenges to affirmative action in higher ed before the Supreme Court, and the impact these developments...

As focus turns from a stalled Congress, DC Insiders David, Nita, and Burt examine how the workplace enforcement agencies -- Wage & Hour, NLRB, OFCCP, and EEOC -- are coordinating their efforts to achieve the Biden pro-worker agenda. The panel will discuss the growing alliance between the NLRB and Wage & Hour on joint employer and independent contractor regulations, as well as the MOU on jo...

The 2022 season begins with DC Insiders David, Nita, and Burt analyzing the new priorities for the key Federal agencies: Wage & Hour, NLRB, OFCCP, and EEOC. Employers face greater inter-agency coordination, and the DC Insiders discuss the efforts of W&H and NLRB to revise both the Joint Employer and Independent Contractor regulations and the dramatic impact this could have on the economy. ...

Join DC Insiders David, Nita, and Burt as they review the Federal agencies' ambitious regulatory plans and policies for 2022.  The Biden Administration’s recently published Federal Fall Regulatory Agenda includes new regulations from Wage & Hour, OFCCP, and the NLRB. The DC Insiders also discuss the Administration’s coordination of its regulatory and enforcement agendas for multiple agenc...

Join David, Nita, and Burt as they review the judicial decisions that enjoined the OSHA, CMS, and Federal Contractor federal vaccine mandates and the implications of those decisions on the future of Executive Orders and federal regulation, in general.  The FS Team discusses the various state laws limiting vaccine mandates in light of the suspension of federal regulation and wraps up with a discuss...

Join David, Nita, and Burt as they review the judicial challenges to the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) as well as the vaccine mandates for Federal contractors and CMS health care recipients. The FS Team unpacks the latest on the litigation claims against the ETS and Federal contractor mandates as well as the new state laws limiting employers’ compliance with the Federal requirements. The...

Join David, Nita, and Burt as they discuss the new OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing for employers with 100 or more employees.  The FS Team unpacks the most significant regulation in OSHA’s history, impacting 84 million employees.  Additionally, the interplay with the Federal contractor vaccination obligations and conflicting state and local...