The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a proposed rule to restore and expand Obama-era requirements for high-hazard employers with at least 100 employees to submit their injury and illness forms electronically to the agency.

1. Major League Baseball and the players’ union reached agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, ending the lockout. After a nearly 100-day lockout, MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association reached a deal on a five-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA deal came in time for the season to start just a week later than originally scheduled, with Opening Day set for April 7.

A federal court must have an independent jurisdictional basis to confirm or vacate an arbitration award and cannot “look through” to the underlying dispute to establish jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a case involving an employee’s wrongful termination claim. Badgerow v. Walters, et al., No. 20-1143 (Mar. 31, 2022).

The federal court that issued a nationwide injunction of Executive Order (EO) 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors,” has issued a new Order stating that it enjoined only the vaccine requirement of the EO’s implementing tool: the Safer Federal Taskforce (Safer Taskforce) Guidance.

In 2021, wage and hour laws continued to change and develop, expanding in some areas and contracting in others. In “2021 Wage & Hour Developments: A Year in Review,” we look back on significant wage and hour developments at both the federal and state level. 

Click here to download the 2021 Wage & Hour Developments: A Year in Review.

A Georgia federal district court judge has issued a preliminary nationwide injunction halting enforcement of Executive Order (EO) 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.” Georgia v. Biden, No. 1:21-cv-163 (S.D. Ga. Dec. 7, 2021).

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) (H.R. 5376) by a vote of 220–213. Supported by the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats, the controversial bill heads to the Senate for a vote.

1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), its Regions 2 (New York), 22 (Newark), and 29 (Brooklyn) and the Consulate General of México in New York have signed an agreement formalizing the relationship between the NLRB and the Mexican government. The agreement creates a relationship that will involve outreach and educational events conducted by the Regions’ personnel and Consulate staff for the benefit of the Mexican population they serve, according to the NLRB’s press release.

One day after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) titled “COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard” (Mandate) (see 86 Fed. Reg., 61,402), a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a nationwide stay of the OSHA ETS.