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On February 1, 2023, the Ninth Circuit overturned summary judgment entered by a trial court in the Eastern District of Washington against a class of Alaska Airlines, Inc., and Horizon Air Industries, Inc., employees.In their lawsuit, the employees claimed that the airlines’ leave policies violated the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”), a federal law that provides a range of employment protections for service members.

The owners of six now-shuttered D.C. Assisted living facilities will pay over $1.5 million for failing to properly compensate their front-line health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Office of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Azure Health Services and its former owners required their staff to work twenty-four hour shifts for fourteen consecutive days, but only paid them for 18 hours per day, in violation of D.C. law.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides covered workers with a right to earn overtime compensation unless they satisfy one of a limited set of exemptions, including an exemption for “executive” employees who earn more than $684 a week. Whether an employee is properly exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA requires an analysis of the employee’s actual job duties and responsibilities.

Recently, Congress passed two laws expanding protections for pregnant workers and pregnancy-related conditions. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act expands protections for reasonable accommodations related to pregnancy and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers expands coverage which require employers to provide breaks for breastfeeding employees.

After a string of high-profile layoffs at companies across multiple industries, including layoffs announced by Microsoft on January 18, state and federal laws governing mass layoffs and plant closings are receiving national attention.Under federal law, the WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 days’ paid notice if they conduct a qualifying mass layoff of at least 50 employees (including indefinite furloughs).

Explaining that, by keeping people from switching jobs, non-compete agreements deprive workers of higher wages and better conditions, and deprive less-established businesses of talent, the FTC has proposed a rule barring these agreements. In addition to prohibiting the creation of new non-compete agreements with both employees and independent contractors, the rule would also require companies to nullify any existing non-compete agreements within six months.

Effective January 1, California and Washington joined a growing list of jurisdictions requiring employers to be transparent about their pay. The new laws require employers to include a salary range in job postings, and are similar to a 2021 Colorado law and an ordinance that went into effect in New York City last year.

As a new year began on January 1, 2023, the federal minimum wage remained $7.25 per hour.  However, new state minimum wage laws took effect in both Maryland and Virginia:

Two former employees of the St-Ned Pizza chain, which specializes in gourmet cannabis pizza in New York City, sued for wage and hour violations on December 22, 2022.

On December 15, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) reaffirmed its commitment to protecting workers from employer coercion when they are interviewed about unfair labor practices.