The Library

This is the third installment of a series of year-end alerts to employers. This alert is of particular interest to federal government contractors. Part 1: OSHA Reporting Rules Effective December 1, 2016 Part 2: Paycheck Transparency Rules Effective January 1, 2017 Part 4: Confidentiality Rules Under Fire – Be Warned! The Department of Labor (DOL) on September 30, 2016 issued new final rules spelling out the requirement for covered federal contractors to provide employees with up to seven days (56 hours) of paid sick leave per year.[1] Employees who are covered under this new Rule are “any person[s]” engaged in […]

This is the second installment of a series of year-end alerts to employers. This alert is of particular interest to federal government contractors. Part 1: OSHA Reporting Rules Effective December 1, 2016 Part 3: Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors Effective January 1, 2017 Part 4: Confidentiality Rules Under Fire – Be Warned! On October 24, 2016, a Texas federal judge issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the enforcement of certain portions of Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Rules.[1] These Rules would have required employers to disclose alleged but not fully adjudicated labor violations when bidding for contracting work. The judge […]

This is the first installment of a series of year-end alerts for employers. This alert focuses on OSHA reporting rule changes. Part 2: Paycheck Transparency Rules Effective January 1, 2017 Part 3: Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors Effective January 1, 2017 Part 4: Confidentiality Rules Under Fire – Be Warned! A rash of lawsuits filed this fall challenged a number of new federal requirements imposed by the outgoing Obama Administration. Some of these court challenges have been successful, e.g., recent injunctions prohibiting enforcement of the new overtime regulations, and the new “persuader” rules. This Alert is the first of […]

So, what do your brewery, Facebook, and Google have in common? With Google and Facebook’s progressive offices there is probably some connection involving beer pong, but beyond that, intellectual property (“IP”) is a significant asset of each. Brewery owners will spend countless hours and dollars investing in producing the best beer and marketing to build brand recognition, but will overlook protecting that intellectual property they spent so much effort building. Admittedly, Facebook and Google [and Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors] are huge companies with in-house attorneys and legal budgets devoted to obtaining, licensing, and policing their intellectual property, which just doesn’t make […]

Did you know that almost 1/3 of the approximately 90,000 charges filed with the EEOC in fiscal year 2015 included an allegation of unlawful “harassment” in the workplace? Moreover, according to the EEOC’s latest research, 3 out of 4 persons who experience “harassment” at work never report it to anyone either internally (e.g., HR or a supervisor) or externally (e.g., EEOC charge). Simply stated, workplace harassment continues to be a significant problem. Mindful of this problem, the EEOC convened a diverse and experienced Task Force to investigate, and to offer analysis and solutions. In June 2016, the EEOC Task Force […]

This article by Gentry Locke partner Christen Church was published to the website of ALM’s Inside Counsel Magazine on November 16, 2016. You may view a PDF of the article here. The Affordable Care Act itself is 900+ pages, with the pages of regulation implementing the Affordable Care Act numbering in the thousands, so what would a “repeal” of Obamacare look like? We now know the outcome of the 2016 election. On Jan. 20, 2017, Donald Trump will take office and a Republican majority will remain in both houses of Congress. What will this mean for the future of the Affordable […]

On November 14, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Satisfactory completion of a Form I-9 is required for every employee hired in the United States. These forms must be retained by employers forms for their active US workforce, as well as for terminated employees, pursuant to specific retention rules. A link to the new form is here. The revised Form I-9 includes several changes. For example, Section 1 asks for “other last names used” rather than “other names used,” and streamlines certification for certain foreign nationals. Other changes include: Instructions […]

This article, co-authored by Gentry Locke attorneys Cynthia D. Kinser and John Reed Thomas, Jr., appeared in U.S. Law Week, published by Bloomberg BNA on November 3, 2016. You can view a PDF of the article here. The False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, is the United States’ primary statutory tool to combat fraud against the government. Congress enacted the FCA in 1863 in order to contend with widespread fraud in Civil War defense contracts. Since then, Congress has amended the FCA on several occasions to enhance the government’s ability to recover losses sustained as a result of […]

This article by Gentry Locke partner Todd Leeson was published in the Opinion section of The Roanoke Times on November 2, 2016. To see the published version, click here. Virginia has been a “right to work” state since 1947. In the upcoming election, Virginia voters will decide whether to include “right to work” protection in our state constitution. For reasons I will explain, I encourage a “Yes” vote. To understand this issue better, it is important to know the meaning of the term “right to work.” Assume that Sara lives in New York. She accepts a job with the ABC […]