The most recent legal roundup from Staffing Industry Analysts covers legal news from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Last month, Vermont became the third state in New England and the fifth state in the United States — after California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Oregon — to enact a statewide paid sick leave law. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2017, Vermont employers must allow employees to accrue and use at least 24 hours (or three days) of earned sick time in a 12-month period. Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, employers must allow employees to accrue and use at least 40 hours (or five days) of earned sick time in a 12-month period.
US Department of Labor Solicitor Patricia Smith recently announced the final rules regarding the changes to the FLSA White Collar Exemption Regulations will be published in July 2016. She also indicated the regulations will be effective 60 days after their publication. This means the changes will become effective no later than September 2016. The revised regulations are expected to increase the minimum salary required for exemption as an executive, administrative, or professional employee; to increase the minimum total annual compensation required for exemption as a “highly compensated employee”; and to establish a mechanism for automatically updating these minimum salary and compensation levels going forward. The proposed salary basis for all exempt employees for 2016 is going up from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $970 per week ($50,440).
Other legal changes covered in the report [1]:
Canada
- Ontario Limits Police Record Checks
- Canac Kitchens Loses Dependent Contractor Appeal
- Cap Lifted on Seasonal Temporary Foreign Workers
Mexico
- Supreme Court Upholds One-Year Cap on Back Pay Compensation
United States
- ACA: Further Guidance Issued on Employer Mandate, Reporting Requirements, Educational Employee Break in Service Rule
- Co-Employment: Voluntary Certification for Professional Employer Organizations from July 2016
- Collective Bargaining: NLRB to Review Multi-Employer Bargaining Rules
- Discrimination: Employer Can Be Liable for Discriminatory Practices of a Staffing Contractor
- EEOC: Proposed Burdensome EEO-1 Pay Reporting
- Misclassification: Independent Contractors and Bargaining Rights
- OSHA Penalties Set to Increase
- Privacy: EU-US Privacy Shield Agreement