Employment/Labor Law (CLE)

The complexities of wage and hour laws present a significant challenge for legal professionals navigating the intricacies of compliance and litigation. The continuous updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other related regulations demand a thorough understanding of both federal and state-level changes to ensure proper employee classification and compensation. In this CLE webcast, a panel of thought leaders organized by The Knowledge Group will provide an in-depth discussion about the insights into the latest regulatory developments, recent court decisions, and emerging issues in wage and hour law. Speakers will provide practical strategies for avoiding common pitfalls and ensuring compliance with the FLSA.

In today's competitive job market, understanding the implications of the FTC's Ban on Noncompete Clauses is essential for both employees and employers, as it significantly alters the landscape of employment agreements. By delving into the nuances of noncompete clauses within the framework of FTC regulations, participants will acquire valuable insights into effectively navigating these clauses and ensuring compliance with the latest legal developments. Come and join a panel of prominent thought leaders and practitioners assembled by The Knowledge Group as they delve into the intricacies of noncompete clauses and gain a comprehensive understanding of the FTC's ban in the realm of employment agreements. In this interactive course, you’ll gain valuable strategies for negotiating, modifying, or challenging noncompete agreements within the bounds of the FTC's regulations.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are responsible for ensuring that their employees are properly classified and compensated. The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent changes to regulations governing overtime-exempt status, independent contractor classification, and tip credit rule further expands wage and hour laws. Failure to comply with these provisions can result in serious consequences, such as costly fines, litigation, and reputational damage.

A non-compete agreement is crucial for protecting a company’s trade secrets and other valuable assets from employees who leave the business. However, some organizations fail to include legitimate restrictions for employees' conduct even after their employment ended, exposing them to risks. More so, the potential for misappropriation or theft of trade secrets.  This underscores the need for businesses and their counsel to be well-versed in drafting sound non-compete agreements and be abreast of emerging developments to be able to structure preventive measures and mitigate potential risks.

Worker misclassification has perpetually posed serious challenges for many businesses and companies alike.

Restrictive covenants are enforced under the standards of reasonableness, recognizing the balance between protection and free competition.

The past two years have seen the undeniable growth of collective bargaining agreements (CBA) in both the public and private sector workplace.

Over the past years, multiple states have enacted and amended laws against unfair competition. However, the push to widen the scope of banning restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements raises concerns among employers, especially in protecting important company assets and trade secrets.

Regulatory uptakes on anti-competitive restrictions in labor markets is expected to ramp up with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the lead. Recently, the DOJ filed Statement of Interest on several pending cases to provide courts with significant guidance on the analysis of “no-poach” agreements and clarified that alleged cases of “no-poach” agreements do not automatically warrant per se review.

The Department of Labor Regulations on disclosure of 401(k) plan fees and expenses are designed to provide transparency to participants in a user-friendly format, allowing for an apples-to-apples comparison of fees and expenses under a plan’s investment options that impact participant account balances, and a look under the hood on plan administration costs charged to participant accounts.  But greater disclosure can lead to greater scrutiny, and an essential duty for plan sponsors is monitoring fees and expenses that could reduce participant account balances, and timely addressing excesses.

The past years have seen changing tides on the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) litigation landscape. The number of lawsuits filed in federal courts, which chiefly stemmed from alleged violations on websites and mobile application accessibility, has continuously increased. As regulatory developments and court decisions are yet to unfold, the ADA litigation landscape remains uncertain. Thus, businesses and their counsel must keep themselves in the know of any emerging update in this field of law. They must also revisit their practices to ensure ADA compliance and dodge potential lawsuits.

Numerous policy changes and trends concerning wage and hour have made the landscape more complicated and challenging. Recently, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) released six opinion letters which aimed to address a raft of issues under the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA).