Texas District Court Declares State Preemption Law Unconstitutional. What Now?
The legal battle continues between large cities and the State of Texas over state attempts to nullify local enactments on employment and other matters that exceed or conflict with state law. The Texas Regulatory Consistency Act (or HB 2127), known by critics as the Death Star Bill, was scheduled to take effect September 1, 2023. The broadest reading of the law would arguably have nullified any local employment law that conflicted with or exceeded state law. But the Act has been blocked, at least temporarily, by the ruling of a district court in Austin, Texas. Learn More
2022 EEO-1 Reporting Period Will Open on October 31, 2023
The EEOC has announced that the long-delayed 2022 EEO-1 reporting period will finally open on October 31, 2023. The deadline for filing will be December 5, 2023. All employers with 100 or more U.S. employees and federal contractors with at least 50 U.S. employees are required to submit an EEO-1 report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) each year. The EEO-1 report provides the EEOC with data about the size, location, race or ethnicity, and gender demographics of an employer’s workforce. The 2022 report will have to be based on a workforce payroll snapshot taken between October 1 and December 31, 2022. Learn More
New Federal Lawsuit Against DHS Alleges APA Violations, Erroneous H-1B Visa Denials
A lawsuit filed on August 10, 2023 against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleges that the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 702, by exceeding its authority and determining that a group of visa applicants were “inadmissible” without reviewing a full record of evidence. The plaintiffs in Sharma et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security are nearly 70 former F-1 students who were labeled “inadmissible” for employment authorization after they were defrauded by a group of would-be visa employers, which committed violations of the F-1 program guidelines by asking the students to pay for “pre-employment trainings” to receive offer letters and then failing to provide them with actual work assignments or remuneration. Learn More
OFCCP Preparing to Scrutinize Federal Contractors’ Use of AI Hiring Tools and Other Technology-based Selection Procedures
On August 24, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget approved a request from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to revise the “Itemized Listing” that OFCCP uses to collect information from federal contractors that are selected for supply or service audits. Among the changes that have been approved is a new requirement that audited contractors “[i]dentify and provide information and documentation of policies, practices, or systems used to recruit, screen, and hire, including the use of artificial intelligence, algorithms, automated systems or other technology-based selection procedures.” Learn More
Amendments to Puerto Rico’s Act 54 on Domestic Violence Will Impact Employer Policies
The governor of Puerto Rico recently signed into law amendments to Act No. 54 of August 15, 1989, “Act for the Prevention and Intervention with Domestic Violence.” The amendments include “economic violence” as a form of domestic violence, and provide additional remedies for addressing this specific type of domestic violence, such as specifically tailored protective orders. Learn More
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