Earlier this month, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) dropped its defense of an Obama-era regulation that sought to increase the salary level for overtime-exempt employees from $23,660 per year to $47,476 per year. The regulation had been set to take effect in November 2016, but a last-minute preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court in Texas stayed the implementation of the regulation.

In the preliminary injunction ruling, the district court ruled that the new $47,476 salary threshold exceeded the scope of the DOL’s authority because such a high salary level had the effect of making an employee’s salary—and not their primary duty—the determinative factor in the exemption inquiry. Importantly, the district court’s preliminary injunction ruling went well beyond the appropriateness of the particular salary level at issue in the new regulation, and instead expressed the broader view that the DOL lacked the authority to impose any salary level requirement (regardless of the level of salary chosen) because the relevant provision of the FLSA focused on an employee’s duties, not their salary. 
Continue Reading DOL Drops Appellate Defense of Overtime Rule

On June 7, 2017, the Department of Labor announced that it is withdrawing two administrative interpretations issued by the Department of Labor under the Obama administration in 2015 and 2016 relating to misclassification of independent contractors and joint employment.
Continue Reading DOL Announces Rollback of Policies on Joint Employment and Employee Classification

On March 14, 2017, the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 will come into effect, 90 days after it was signed into law by President Obama. The Fairness Act was passed in response to an increase in the use of so-called “non-disparagement clauses” that prohibited consumers from sharing their honest opinions about a seller’s goods, services or conduct.
Continue Reading How Companies Can Comply with the Newly Effective Consumer Review Fairness Act

President Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act into law in June 2016, amending the core provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Continue Reading Major Implications for Retail Industry Following Overhaul of Toxic Substance Control Act