Insights

San Francisco – December 21, 2020: In a novel constitutional case, Crowell & Moring secured a decisive victory for the University of California (UC) by defeating a motion for preliminary injunction which sought to halt the implementation of an Executive Order requiring that all UC students, employees, and faculty working, studying, or living on campus to get a flu shot by November 1. UC was one of dozens of U.S. colleges and universities that implemented a flu vaccine requirement this year, due to the confluence of the 2020-21 flu season and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington, D.C. – June 29, 2016: On June 28, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. v. SEIU, upholding the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in favor of SEIU, Crowell & Moring client Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and related organizations. In the matter, Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. alleged an antitrust conspiracy between a health care workers' union and Kaiser to eliminate a competing hospital services provider from the market and asserted related monopolization claims against Kaiser.

Washington, D.C. – February 14, 2013: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that Thomas P. Gies, a partner in the firm's Labor & Employment Law Group, testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. The hearing, "Sequestration: Examining Employers' WARN Act Responsibilities," focused on clarifying guidelines surrounding the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which requires large employers to send written notice to employees 60 days in advance of potential layoffs or plant closings.

On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published its final rule on Employee or Independent Contractor Classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Crowell & Moring previously reported on the proposed rule announced on October 11, 2022. The final rule rescinds the “core factors” independent contractor rule adopted by the Trump administration in 2021 and returns to a “totality of the circumstances” analysis for determining whether a worker is properly classified as an employee or independent contractor. According to the DOL, the new final rule institutes an analysis that better aligns with judicial precedent and the FLSA’s text and purpose. The final rule goes into effect on March 11, 2024.

On October 27, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a long-awaited Final Rule (“Final Rule”) that will dramatically alter the test for joint-employer status. As proposed,  the Final Rule rescinds the NLRB’s 2020 Final Rule, with the NLRB claiming that the new rule “more faithfully grounds the joint-employer standard in established common-law agency principles.”   In effect, the Final Rule will make it easier for employees of franchises, staffing agencies, and potentially a broad swath of contractors to show that two entities are joint employers. If an entity is found to be a joint employer with the direct employer of unionized employees, “under common-law agency principles,” the entity can be liable for the unfair labor practices of the co-employer and can be required to negotiate with the union representing the workers under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The NLRB’s new rule will take effect on December 26, 2023 and is not retroactive.

On September 8, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”) proposing a number of changes that would, if enacted, substantially increase the number of workers who would be eligible for overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  Most critically, the NPRM would raise the annual salary threshold for the FLSA’s administrative, executive and professional exemptions -- the so-called “white collar” exemptions -- from $684 per week ($35,568/year) to $1,059 per week ($55,068/year).

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues. The EEOC has brought several lawsuits, including a widely-publicized case filed in Chicago against the CVS pharmacy chain, challenging several provisions commonly used by employers in settlement and release agreements. EEOC claims that such provisions inappropriately chill the right of the Commission to enforce Title VII and, by implication, other EEO statutes. These cases raise tricky questions about standard language use in many settlement agreements, including non-disparagement clauses and provisions requiring ongoing cooperation by former employees. Other cases, including private party litigation challenging the terms of release agreements intended to comply with the complex provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, reveal several open issues about how best to frame release agreements, particularly in workforce restructuring situations. These developments make it a good time for employers to take another look at their waiver and release agreements. A panel of Crowell & Moring lawyers will review these issues in a roundtable discussion. We will focus on practical solutions for employers seeking enforceable settlement agreements. This webinar is scheduled for Thursday, August 21 at 12:00 pm EDT. We hope that you can join us for this timely and lively discussion.

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues.

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues. Only five months in, 2014 has already been a very busy year for the Office of Federal Compliance Programs (OFCCP).  This month’s program will focus on recent developments in affirmative action and OFCCP enforcement initiatives. 

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues.

Please join us on Wednesday, November 10 at 3 pm EST, for a follow-up presentation on the Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate.  The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has issued additional guidance and certain federal agencies have elaborated on their policies for implementing the new federal requirements.  Our webinar will discuss key developments that have arisen in recent weeks, challenges that contractors are facing, and common questions.  We hope you will join us.  If there are particular topics or questions you would like us to address, we encourage you to reach out to any of the presenters in advance.

In this special edition, partners Tom Gies and Trina Fairley Barlow discuss legal issues government contractors face with regards to the implications of state laws legalizing marijuana use on employer drug testing programs. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.