Two oft-asked questions by companies seeking to enhance their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and performance are: (1) Should we create employee resource groups (ERGs)? and (2) How do we make ERGs most effective?

The answers differ greatly depending on the unique situation of the company. Below, we offer a few basic guidelines to raise concerns that require careful consideration by company leadership. The individual corporate culture and situation will dictate how best to apply these guidelines to help find an answer.

1. President Joe Biden signed legislation imposing a collective bargaining agreement between freight carriers and railroad unions, avoiding a nationwide strike. Congress passed the bill utilizing its authority under the Railway Labor Act, preventing what could have been a massive hit to the country’s supply chain after several railroad unions failed to ratify the tentative agreement. The contract contains wage increases of roughly 24 percent over four to five years and an additional day of paid leave. Other terms will vary across the dozen national rail unions.

The constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s “registration statute,” which requires corporations that register to do business in Pennsylvania consent to the “general personal jurisdiction” of Pennsylvania, was the subject of oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court on November 8, 2022.

1. The National Labor Relations Board modified its test for determining if COVID-19-related conditions warrant mail ballot union elections, potentially signaling a return to mostly in-person votes. Starbucks Corp., 371 NLRB No. 154 (Sept. 29, 2022).

In our latest issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys look at the current state of COVID-19-related litigation at this late stage of the global pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking to revise the standard for determining whether a worker is an employee or “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

1. The National Labor Relations Board has proposed reversing the current joint-employer standard, which took effect on April 27, 2020. The new rule would revert to the Obama-era standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced that it has expanded employer eligibility for placement on its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP).

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for detailed EEO-1 Report employee demographic information that thousands of U.S. employers submitted from 2016 through 2020. Unless these employers submit objections by September 19, OFCCP plans to release their currently non-public demographic employee data in response to the request.