Recent news
Latest items of recent news relevant to the United States as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.
USA: EEOC lunches EEOC Explore for data & analytics
Employers handling Equal Opportunity cases will increasingly find that they are being confronted by data from the EEOC’s “Explore” database …
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USA: Illinois law requires that all employees receive sexual harassment training by December 31, 2020
Illinois employers are reminded of their obligation to conduct sexual harassment training for all their employees by 31st December 2020, and on an annual basis thereafter …
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USA: Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act
Companies operating in Illinois should take great care when handling and retaining employee biometric data because of the Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA) …
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USA: Northern California District Court strikes down H-1B program changes
A District Court in Northern California has suspended the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) changes to the H-1B Visa programme …
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USA: House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill
The House of Representatives has now approved the MORE Bill to decriminalise the use of marijuana and remove the drug off the Controlled Substances Act at a Federal level …
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USA: Visa bonds to be imposed on more than 20 countries
Under a newly launched six-month “visa bond” pilot program, business visitors from 23 countries – mostly from Africa – with historically high overstay rates of B-1 visas, will be required to pay a refundable bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance …
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USA: Judge rejects rules limiting H-1B visas
The two Trump administration rules for H-1B visas – minimum salary thresholds and restricting their use to specialty occupations, have just been rejected by a federal judge …
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USA: “Distracted driving” laws
Employers should ensure that all staff in charge of vehicles are alerted to a change in the “distracted driving” laws …
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USA: Is travel time compensable worktime?
The US Department of Labor has been trying to give practical guidance on what constitutes worktime when an employee has to travel to a worksite that is not a fixed or conventional one …
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USA: Starbucks raises wages by 10%
With effect from 14th December 2020, baristas, shift supervisors and cafe attendants in the coffee chain, Starbucks, will receive a gross pay increase of at least 10% if they were hired on or before 24th September 2020 …
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USA: DHS extends Form I-9 requirement flexibility until 31st December 2020
Continued flexibility now exists on the part of the Department of Homeland Security in respect to Form I-9 employment verification requirements …
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USA: California provides additional guidance on employee pay data reporting
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has released 16 new FAQs regarding employers’ requirements to file employee compensation data with the State beginning in March of next year …
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USA: Cal/OSHA adopts emergency COVID-19 workplace standards
Employers operating in California must urgently review their Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention Plans ahead of new standards/regulations now being introduced …
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USA: Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
Local orders concerning the wearing of face masks differ significantly by State and often depend on the amount of physical distance (usually a minimum of 6 feet) that can be maintained …
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USA: De-recognition
The NLRB has achieved the backing of a DC Circuit Court concerning a company’s claims that recognition of a trades union no longer applied because it no longer had the support of the workforce …
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