Brad Kelley says the more states feel compelled to pass their own AI laws in the absence of national legislation, the harder it becomes for businesses, who will have to comply with 50 different laws.

American City Business Journals

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Alice Wang, Deborah Margolis and Stephan Swinkels explain what U.S. employers should know about The EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive legal framework on AI.

Bloomberg Law

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As previously discussed, in March the European Parliament approved the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (the “Act”), creating the world’s first comprehensive set of rules for artificial intelligence. On July 12, 2024, the Act was published in the European Union Official Journal, which is the final step in the EU legislative process.

James McGehee explains how AI is poised to influence laws governing equal employment opportunities, wage and hours standards, union organization and other labor and employment issues. 

Dallas Bar Association Headnotes

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Niloy Ray discusses findings in Littler’s AI C-Suite Survey Report that reveal an awareness gap between legal chiefs and HR regarding whether their company is using AI tools.

Law360

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Bradford Kelley, Michael Paglialonga and Lee Schreter offer takeaways from a recent district court decision to help employers avoid child labor violations and reduce the risks from aggressive DOL enforcement.

Law360

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Alexander T. MacDonald and Joy C. Rosenquist discuss California’s Proposition 22 and a recent California Supreme Court decision that upheld the voter-approved law allowing app-based drivers to work as independent contractors.

Westlaw Today

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Kurt J. Erickson, Kerry L. Middleton, Alice D. Kirkland, Ben Sandahl, Jeremy Sosna and Susan K. Fitzke discuss important changes in Minnesota’s employment laws at the end of the recent legislative session.

SHRM

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Karolina Kanclerz and Zuzanna Janelli discuss the trend of young female professionals, including young female lawyers, undervaluing themselves by refusing to publicly acknowledge their professional achievements.

International Employment Lawyer

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As part of the EDRM-Clarity Working Group, Paul Weiner is contributing author of this white paper addressing the challenge of deepfakes being presented as relevant and authentic evidence in the justice system.

Legaltech News

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Blair C. Senesi and Jaime B. Laurent examine the City of Los Angeles’ “Model Contract” under the Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance (FWPO) and explain what it means for employers.

SHRM

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Renata Neeser says Brazil’s efforts to reduce the gender pay gap are in line with the current global trend and ahead of other Latin American countries.

SHRM

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Taylor N. Brailey and Nancy N. Delogu discuss a new Pittsburgh ordinance prohibiting employment discrimination against an individual’s status as a medical marijuana patient.

SHRM

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In February 2019, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“Development Ministry”) introduced a draft law (the “Draft Law”) that seeks to mandate human rights due diligence for German companies and their global business partners, including suppliers.

With the usual flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, California has enacted a slew of bills with labor and employment ramifications.¹ Closing out his first year in office, Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than 40 such bills on a wide variety of topics, ranging from antidiscrimination and workplace safety measures to the much-debated worker classification bill (AB 5) codifying the ABC test from last year’s Dynamex case.

Human rights issues increasingly require the assistance of experienced counsel who can help employers navigate very fluid and complex legal, business and societal considerations.

Since it was established in 2014, a United Nations Inter-Governmental Working Group (“IGWG”) has met annually to develop a multilateral treaty to attempt to hold businesses legally accountable for harms that may be related to their global operations (the “Proposed Treaty”).  Littler Mendelson attorneys have provided testimony at all of these sessions.¹ The IGWG held its most recent session from October 14-18, 2019, during which certain member States of the United Nations (“States”) and other stakeholders discussed a “Revised Draft” of the Proposed Treaty.² This Revise

Barry Hartstein discusses the findings of Littler’s Delta Variant Update report and what they reveal about employers’ current thinking surrounding vaccine mandates.

Corporate Counsel

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Rhonda Levy and Douglas Sanderson discuss a recent court decision in Canada that sheds light on how best to deal with accommodation requests.

Human Resources Director Canada

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In January 2022, the New York State Senate introduced a bill that seeks to impose significant human rights and environmental due diligence and disclosure obligations on fashion retail sellers and manufacturers operating in the state of New York.  As we reported previously, 2021 saw a number of international and regional legislative efforts to impose human rights due diligence and disclosure obligations on multinational employers.

Rhonda B. Levy and George Vassos write about a case in which a Canadian judge finally ruled on whether or not COVID laws are in breach of human rights.

Human Resources Director Canada

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George Vassos says arbitrators have largely favored employers’ vaccination policies, but employers don’t have carte blanche. 

Benefits Canada

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Karolina Schiffter discusses whether Ukrainian citizens who claim refugee status can work in Poland.

Gazeta Prawna

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National and supranational legislatures continue to develop laws requiring employers to conduct due diligence of their operations and those of their business partners in order to address human rights risks such as forced labor and child labor.  Recently, the European Union (EU), Switzerland, and Japan have rolled out such laws, described below:

EU’s Corporate Due Diligence and Corporate Accountability Directive

Rhonda B. Levy and Douglas Sanderson examine The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario preliminary hearing to determine whether allegations made under the Human Rights Code fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of a labour arbitrator, or whether the Tribunal had concurrent jurisdiction over employment-related human rights matters in a unionized workplace. 

Human Resources Director Canada

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law eight pieces of legislation designed to combat human trafficking. These laws require many hospitality industry employers to provide specific anti-human-trafficking awareness training to employees. They also require certain hospitality and transportation industry employers to post information regarding services available to human trafficking victims.

Rhonda Levy comments on an Ontario Supreme Court ruling in which the court struck down a claim made by a temporary foreign worker seeking damages against his employer for the statutory tort of human trafficking.

Law Times

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On May 11, 2023, Canada passed An Act to enact Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (the “Act”). As we reported previously, the Act will create supply chain transparency and reporting obligations for certain companies as part of Canada’s efforts to fight against forced labour and child labour in Canadian supply chains.

The Texas legislature meets only for approximately six months every other year. This session, many bills signed into law impact employers. This article summarizes some of these new laws and how they impact employment operations in the State of Texas.

State Preemption of Conflicting Local Laws (AKA the “Death Star Law”)

Lavanga Wijekoon and Aki Tanaka explore the significant impact of the European Union’s expected Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) on global corporate responsibility, with a specific focus on its implications for Japanese companies.

Institute for Security and Development Policy

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On March 15, 2024, the EU member states voted in favor of the European Supply Chain Directive (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – CSDDD) in the EU Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) after a long back-and-forth. The vote, originally scheduled for February 9, 2024, had been initially canceled and postponed indefinitely. The reason for this was that numerous member states – including Germany – had already announced their abstention from the vote in advance. The final version of the directive is less burdensome for companies compared to the previous draft.

Are employers required to conduct human rights due diligence in their global operations?

The scope and scale of many employers’ global operations and their global supply chains are expanding. This expansion has led to a greater focus on the risk of corporate human rights abuses such as forced labor, child labor, and other forms of modern slavery.