Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On August 9, 2024, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed H.B. 3773 into law, requiring all Illinois employers to notify employees and applicants when they use artificial intelligence (A.I.) to make employment decisions.

On June 18, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry (the “Guidance”), which highlights the EEOC’s recommended anti-harassment guidelines for the construction industry.  The initiative is part of the EEOC’s broader effort to address bias in the construction sector amidst significant federal investment through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) approved a final rule banning most non-compete agreements between employers and their workers (the “Final Rule”). However, in the afternoon of Tuesday, August 20, 2024, Judge Ada E. Brown of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, followed her July preliminary injunction against the rule with a substantive ruling granting summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs challenging the Final Rule and against the FTC (“Memorandum Opinion and Order”), explaining that “the Court concludes the text and the structure of the FTC Act reveal the FTC lacks substantive rulemaking authority with respect to unfair methods of competition, under Section 6(g). See generally 15 U.S.C. § 46(g); 15 U.S.C. § 57a. Thus, when considering the text, Section 6(g) specifically, the Court concludes the Commission has exceeded its statutory authority in promulgating the Non-Compete [Final] Rule.”  Memorandum Opinion and Order at 22. 

On July 26, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) released directive 2024-01 , which outlines updated procedures for expedited pre-enforcement conciliation. The directive provides guidance consistent with the OFCCP’s final rule titled Pre-Enforcement Notice and Conciliation Procedures which went into effect in September of 2023 (You can read our previous article regarding this final rule here).

In an era where pay equity and transparency are becoming increasingly important, Massachusetts has taken a significant step with the enactment of House Bill 4890 (HB 4890), the Commonwealth’s new pay transparency law, which expands its previously enacted Massachusetts Equal Pay Act.

In an unusual ruling, Pennsylvania federal judge Michael M. Baylson (i) invoked a court’s inherent powers to manage its docket in dismissing with prejudice a long-running collective action lawsuit against Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”) but also (ii) awarded—after a second hung jury—victory to Uber on the merits by granting its Rule 50(b) motion for judgement as a matter of law.

Please join Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP for a complimentary webinar:

One Year Later: The Effects of the Harvard/UNC Decision on DEI

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) has added itself to the list of agencies that view broad confidentiality agreements given to employees with scepticism. In a Circular published on July 24, 2024, the CFPB stated that requiring employees to sign a broad confidentiality agreement could violate Section 1057 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (the “CFPA").

As financial institutions consider their ever-growing list of compliance obligations, they would be remiss in not evaluating their employment-related obligations as a federal contractor.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is proud to announce that labor and employment partner Amber Rogers was honored by Corporate Counsel in the category of Collaborative Leadership in the publication’s 2024 list of the Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards.