Blogs

Employment Law

Bonuses and Overtime: When Payroll Math Becomes an Employer Liability

Employers who pay bonuses to nonexempt employees need to understand a deceptively simple wage-and-hour rule: overtime must be paid based on the employee’s regular rate of pay, not merely on the employee’s base hourly rate. When an employee receives commissions, shift differentials, incentive pay, production bonuses, attendance bonuses, or other compensation tied to their work…

June 22, 2026

Employment Law

Back to Fundamentals: The DOL’s Proposed Joint Employer Rule and the Return of ‘Economic Reality’

On April 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a long-anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The proposed rule seeks to impose a single analytical framework…

May 27, 2026

Employment Law

Virginia’s New Paid Leave Era Has Arrived: What 2026’s Paid Family Leave and Paid Sick Leave Laws Mean for Employers—and Why Preparation Can’t Wait

Virginia employers are standing at the edge of one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation the Commonwealth has seen in decades. During the 2026 General Assembly session, lawmakers enacted two sweeping paid leave measures — the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) insurance program and a new statewide paid sick leave mandate —…

May 5, 2026

Employment Law

The Meta AI Glasses Lawsuit: What It Signals for Employers Using (or Confronting) Wearable Technology in the Workplace

Smart glasses, fitness trackers, smartwatches, body cams, and location-based wearables have moved quickly from novelty to mainstream tools, both in consumer life and in the workplace. For employers, these technologies hold the promise of productivity, safety, and efficiency gains. They also create a rapidly fast-expanding set of privacy, surveillance, and compliance risks that are still…

April 27, 2026

Employment Law

OSHA Doubles Down on Workplace Heat Enforcement: What Employers Need to Know About the Expanded Heat National Emphasis Program

With record spring heat impacting the eastern half of the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has taken significant additional steps to elevate workplace heat hazards to the forefront of its enforcement agenda. On April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a substantial update to OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP)…

April 23, 2026

Employment Law

March 2026 OHR Guidance Highlights Ongoing Harassment Reporting and Training Obligations in the District

March 2026 materials from the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights (OHR) provide employers with a useful snapshot of the agency’s continuing focus on harassment reporting, workplace investigations, and employee training obligations. Although OHR did not release a formal new harassment rule package in March, the agency did update its notices, fact sheets, and…

April 20, 2026

Employment Law

DEI Re-Defined: The New Compliance Fault Line for Federal Contractors and Grant Recipients

On March 26, 2026, the White House fundamentally reframed how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are evaluated in the context of federal contracts. With the issuance of Executive Order 14398, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors,” DEI is no longer treated primarily as a cultural or human-capital initiative. Instead, for covered contractors and subcontractors,…

April 2, 2026

Employment Law

No Severance, No Noncompete: Virginia’s Legislature Raises the Stakes Yet Again

Virginia’s steady march away from employer-friendly noncompete law continues. What began in 2020 as a targeted prohibition on noncompetes for “low-wage” workers has now expanded into a far broader restriction that reaches employees at every level of the organization. With the General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 170 (SB 170), Virginia employers must now confront…

March 17, 2026

Employment Law

Déjà Vu All Over Again: The DOL’s New Take on Independent Contractors

Few questions in U.S. employment law have proven as persistent or as disruptive for businesses—as determining whether a worker is an “employee” or an “independent contractor.” Since the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was enacted in 1938, employers have struggled with a statute that imposes sweeping wage-and-hour obligations on employers for “employees” while offering little…

March 12, 2026

Employment Law

You Are Responsible for Your AI: What Employers Need to Know About EEOC Scrutiny of Hiring and Promotion Algorithms

Artificial intelligence is now embedded in modern hiring, applicant screening, employee promotion, and performance evaluation systems. From resume scanners to video interview analytics and automated promotion recommendations, algorithmic decision tools are becoming increasingly common. But one message from federal enforcement agencies is becoming unmistakably clear: you are responsible for your AI. The U.S. Equal Employment…

March 9, 2026