Working Knowledge

A coalition of attorneys general from 16 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico again called on the Federal Trade Commission to stop the excessive use of noncompete agreements in the workplace. This is the third request since July 2019. Nearly 25% of US workers are covered by non-competes that limits employees from taking…

Research recently published by Willis Towers Watson of 8,000 workers indicates that a growing number of U.S. employees are willing to sacrifice additional pay in exchange for more generous retirement and health care benefits. Two-thirds of respondents (67%) are willing to pay a higher amount each month for more comprehensive retirement benefits, an increase from…

Beginning May 10, a New York City law will prohibit employers from conducting pre-employment marijuana tests. This is a step further than Nevada legislation that took effect January 1st in which it became illegal to reject a candidate from employment based on the results of a marijuana drug test. Both laws cite exceptions for safety-sensitive positions and…

Developers of gig platforms are pursuing strategies that combine the finding and hiring of talent with solutions tailored to specific industries or business needs. While nearly three-quarters of employers plan to increase their spending on HR technology during 2020, corporate leaders and managers differ on where workforce tools offer the most value. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that…

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has warned that malicious parties will gain control of telework client devices and attempt to capture sensitive data or leverage the devices to gain access to the enterprise network. As the number of people logging in remotely or connecting to cloud-based SAAS [software-as-a-service] applications rises, organizations have an exponential increase in…

As part of a nationwide effort to reduce pay inequity for women and minorities, three dozen U.S. state and local governments are enacting laws that limit employers’ ability to ask about or consider job applicants’ salary history. In California, employers are prohibited from seeking, directly or indirectly, salary history information or in using voluntarily disclosed…

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deferred the physical presence requirements associated with Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Employers with employees taking physical proximity precautions due to COVID-19 will not be required to review the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in the employee’s physical presence. However,…

With health and safety concerns altering the traditional recruiting process, the pandemic could ultimately be the tipping point that breaks organizations’ predisposition toward in-person hiring, whether for individual positions or at scale. For years, recruiting platforms have been using Artificial Intelligence to identify candidates, usher them through the recruiting process, conduct automated interviews and background…

Effective January 1st, the FLSA salary threshold increased to $35,568 annually, or $684 weekly. The FLSA also clarified the standards for determining exemption status. Employers are required to analyze and determine the FLSA exemption status of each position. In the case of W-2 temporary workers, the employer is determined to be the staffing agency or the…

The U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Future of Work Caucus is working to devise plans to address concerns emerging from the rapidly change nature of how work is conducted. The agenda of this 19-member committee includes the rights of gig workers, the impact of automation such as robotics and artificial intelligence in replacing traditional jobs,…