Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in October 2017, Congress and state and local lawmakers have introduced a series of laws aimed at eliminating sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace. As we explained in our June 2018 article, by mid-2019, over 125 bills had been introduced by states to eliminate workplace harassment. Many of these statutes and proposed laws have prohibited or limited the use of mandatory ar...

Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in October 2017, Congress and state and local lawmakers have introduced a series of legislation aimed at eliminating sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace. In 2018 alone, over 125 bills have been introduced by states to eliminate workplace misconduct. We expect to see continuing efforts by Congress, states, and localities to offer legislative solutions. On December 22,...

Over the last several decades, pay secrecy policies have persisted – and even thrived – in the American workplace. Employees who are told not to discuss their compensation with their colleagues rarely question the legality of such a prohibition and, even if they did, are fearful of violating it for fear of losing their job. As a result, pay secrecy policies have long provided a critical advantage to employers during salar...

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed a sweeping tax bill (the 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act' or 'Act') that overhauls much of the United States tax code and touches almost every section of the country's economy. Hidden within the more than 1,000 pages of the recently-passed GOP tax plan is a relatively small provision suddenly getting a lot of attention from employers and their counsel. Section 13307 of the Act &n...

It is a well-known political axiom – and unfortunate reality – that women continue to earn, on average, 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. As federal efforts to address equal pay issues continue to stall, states and localities have stepped into the breach to take meaningful action to try to address pay disparities. One of the tools they have recently relied upon is prohibiting employers from asking applicants ab...

On July 14, 2017, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Recommended Decision and Order (the “Opinion”) in the case brought by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) against Google over Google’s refusal to turn over certain employee data as part of a compliance audit. The ALJ’s thorough opinion is informative, providing insights into OFCCP’s processes in complia...