Damon Ott discusses some options that trucking companies in the state may pursue when the old way of doing business is no longer open to them. 

FreightWaves

View

Dear Littler: You alerted us to some wage & hour and leaves & benefits issues stemming from our “wandering workers” who have scattered across the country during the pandemic, yet continue to work for our Texas-based company.

Effective October 1, 2021, the New Jersey Division of Taxation (the “NJDT”) ended the temporary relief period with regard to employers’ obligation to withhold income taxes for teleworking employees who work in New Jersey.¹  Employers must therefore stop basing their obligation to withhold and remit income taxes on the employer’s jurisdiction, and instead should do so based on where the employee’s service or employment is performed. If that location is New Jersey, employers should withhold New Jersey taxes from such wages.

In March, the UK government announced changes to the tax regime surrounding pensions as part of the annual Budget.

In this piece, we take a deep dive into what these changes are, who they affect, what employers should be doing in response and ask: is this really a big deal?

What is changing?

On June 15, 2023, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed SB 290, which requires early wage access (EWA) providers to obtain a license from the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. This is the first EWA law enacted by any state. 

Early Wage Access Generally

On July 1, 2023, after a long delay, mandatory withholdings for the WA Cares Fund finally took effect. The WA Cares Fund is a state-run, long-term-care insurance program requiring employers to pay premiums through a mandatory payroll deduction from all employees who have not provided proof of an exemption.

Three new rules will take effect this year that alter the overtime wages subject to Alabama withholding tax and employers’ requirements in reporting those newly exempt wages. On October 31, 2023, the Alabama Department of Revenue’s Income Tax Administration issued three final rules that take effect December 3, 2023, and will cover all tax years beginning after December 31, 2023, and ending prior to June 30, 2025.  Notably, the entirety of overtime wages paid to full-time hourly employees will be excluded from Alabama withholding tax.

Janell Ahnert and Tucker Crain discuss new rules in Alabama that change the overtime pay exemption calculation and impart new reporting requirements on Alabama employers through at least June 30, 2025.

SHRM Online

View (Subscription required.)

In Escano v. Innovative Financial Partners, LLC,¹ a magistrate judge held that the defendants’ decision to withhold funds from a payment required under a settlement agreement when the plaintiff refused to provide a Form W-9 did not violate the agreement.

The new tax year is swiftly approaching, along with new statutory rates, limits and changes to employment law in England and Wales that HR practitioners should be aware of. 

Annual rates and limits increases

The usual annual updates to the statutory rates and limits will come into effect in early April 2024.

Here are the key changes:

We recently reported on the saga that followed the Constitutional Court's ruling of February 8, 2024 on the conditions for applying the partial exemption from payment of withholding tax for employers organizing shift work (CIR/92, art. 275/5). 

The ruling of February 8, 2024, had given rise to fears among many employers whose successive shifts fluctuate in size that they would simply lose the tax advantage, which can represent a reduction of 10 to 15% in the wage costs associated with shift workers. 

Sarah Bryan Fask says a decision clarifying when employers can exit union-brokered pension plans “potentially opens up the floodgates for a lot of employer uncertainty.”

Bloomberg Law

View (Subscription required)

Bradford Kelley and Mike Paglialonga explain the basics of wage and hour laws and why it’s critical for business owners to ensure their business complies with federal, state and local laws and regulations.

American Drycleaner

View

Bradford Kelley and Mike Paglialonga explain the basics of wage and hour laws and why it’s critical for business owners to ensure their business complies with federal, state and local laws and regulations.

American Drycleaner

View

Bradford J. Kelley and Maria Malaver-Reyes discuss how Loper Bright will impact federal and state administration of AI statutes, regulations and guidance.

Westlaw Today

View (Subscription required.)

To support personnel transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) in 2011 instituted the SkillBridge internship program, which provides service members with valuable civilian work experience through unpaid internships during their last 180 days of service, while the military continues to pay their wages and full benefits.

Starting in January 2025, California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act (FEHA) will prohibit employers from including a statement in a job advertisement, posting, application, or other material that an applicant must have a driver’s license unless the employer “reasonably” anticipates driving to be an essential job function that cannot be comparably performed by alternative means. The stated purpose of the new FEHA amendment is to help facilitate employment for non-drivers who rely on ride hails, public transportation, biking, and walking as their primary means of transportation.

New Jersey is the latest state to advance pay transparency requirements.  On September 26, 2024, the New Jersey state legislature passed Senate Bill 2310, which if signed and enacted by Governor Murphy (as is expected), would mandate that certain New Jersey employers disclose wage or salary ranges and general benefits information in each job posting/advertisement. The bill would also require that employers take “reasonable” steps to make opportunities for promotions known to current employees.

Applicability

Bradford J. Kelley and James A. McGehee discuss mandates for employers involved in the SkillBridge internship program, which provides military members with civilian work experience.

Westlaw Today

View (Subscription required)

Following other states and cities across the nation, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 988, the Freelance Worker Protection Act (FWPA), into law on September 28, 2024. This new law aims to provide greater protections to freelance workers (e.g., “independent contractors”).

Michael Lotito offers insight on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (or PRO Act), which includes a change to a standard known as “joint employer.”

Entrepreneur

View 

Michael Lotito writes about unions and their allies’ attempts to sneak parts of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act into the budget bill.

The Wall Street Journal

View (Subscription required.)

George Vassos explains new rules that broaden and clarify British Columbia’s ability to investigate employment compliance matters and tighten rules for hiring children younger than 16 years old.

SHRM Online

View (Subscription required.) 

Update: This bill was signed into law on March 3, 2022.

Since late fall 2021, we have seen a steady flow of arbitration awards emerge in Ontario and British Columbia that consider issues relating to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the unionized workplace. In this Insight, we provide an overview of key trends in these awards.

Rhonda B. Levy and Barry Kuretzky provide an overview of key trends in arbitration awards in Ontario and British Columbia since fall 2021 that have considered issues relating to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the unionized workplace.

Human Resources Director Canada

View (Subscription required.)

On May 12, 2022, the “Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act” was introduced in the House of Representatives by Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA).  Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced a companion bill in the Senate. The bill seeks to ban arbitration and discretionary clauses in employer-sponsored benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

On July 8, 2022, in Gist v. ZoAn Management, Inc., the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the trial court and court of appeals granting the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration.  The court concluded that because nothing in the arbitration agreement prohibited the plaintiff from being awarded any relief he might be entitled to under Oregon’s wage and hour statutes, the arbitration provision was not unconscionable and therefore enforceable.

Background

Angel Valverde presents issues for development of international arbitration in the U.S., as there are no visas that specifically allow a foreign national to be employed as an arbitrator, attorney or expert witness in an arbitration proceeding.

International Law Quarterly

View

California’s legislature covered a wide array of labor and employment law topics this legislative session. The laws discussed below were signed into law by Governor Newsom and will become effective on January 1, 2024 unless otherwise noted.  This Insight includes highlights of new laws affecting employers and is not intended to cover every new state and local law that was enacted this session.

Employers should begin reviewing these requirements to help ensure compliance with these new laws. Time to update those Employee Handbooks and train the management team!

Theodora Lee said overall case filings in the San Francisco state trial court have been down significantly compared to pre-pandemic levels, but she’s seeing an uptick in labor and employment law cases.

The Recorder

View (Subscription required.)

On May 3, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law SB 2006 (codified as Section 381.00316, Florida Statutes).  The law prevents business entities from requiring that patrons or customers provide documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to enter or obtain service from a business in Florida. It also prohibits educational institutions from requiring students or residents, and governmental entities from requiring persons, to provide vaccination passports or proof of post-infection recovery.

William H. Foster and Katie E. Towery examine the impact President Biden’s “America’s Jobs Plan” might have on South Carolina’s growing businesses and workforce. 

Association of Corporate Counsel South Carolina

View 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires recipient institutions—i.e., any entity receiving funding from the NIH—to have policies that foster a harassment-free environment.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), on June 23, 2022, the U.S.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently issued new guidance regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsement deals with college athletes. The NCAA’s most recent guidance aims to provide clarity on NIL rules and is important for all businesses entering NIL deals with collegiate athletes, as well as colleges and universities subject to NCAA rules.   

The NCAA’s Past Guidance

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that it is clarifying the validity period of off-campus employment authorization for international students pursuant to the Special Student Relief (SSR) package.

Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities have been a hot topic in college sports since the summer of 2021. In July 2021, the NCAA released an Interim NIL Policy. Before then, individual states had passed laws allowing college athletes to enter NIL deals. Florida was one of the earliest states to enact an NIL law. Passed in 2020, it went into effect in July 2021. Recent amendments to Florida’s NIL law will have a substantial impact upon businesses looking to enter NIL deals with athletes at Florida schools and upon Florida schools with intercollegiate athletic programs.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo filed a long-anticipated complaint on May 18, 2023 against the University of Southern California (USC), the Pac-12 Conference, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), alleging that their failure to use the term “employee” to refer to student-athletes in the university’s student athlete handbook and related social media policies intentionally discourages student athletes from exercising their alleged Section 7 rights as employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

In a joint “Dear Colleague” letter (DCL) released May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights teamed up with the U.S.

Tyler A. Sims says student athletes shouldn’t be classified as employees under the National Labor Relations Act.

Bloomberg Law

View (Subscription required.)

Tyler A. Sims disagrees with a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional director’s ruling that men’s college basketball players at Dartmouth College are employees for National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) purposes.

SHRM Online

View (Subscription required.)