Tag: Department of Labor

Immigration, Labor & Employment, MSK Blog

California Passes Immigrant Worker Protection Act

US Customs and Border Protection
Photo credit: iStock.com/danielfela

By Janice Luo

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed the Immigrant Worker Protection Act (AB 450), which restricts public and private employers in California from admitting immigration inspectors to the workplace without a judicial warrant.  It also requires employers to notify their employees before and after certain immigration inspections take place.  The new law, which adds Sections 7285.1, 7285.2, and 7285.3 to the California Government Code, and Sections 90.2 and 1019.2 to the California Labor Code, will take effect on January 1, 2018.

In conflict with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) plans to increase enforcement actions under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which includes criminal and civil penalties for employers who knowingly employ unauthorized workers; the new California law seeks to protect foreign workers from unfair immigration-related practices, potentially causing problems for employers who must comply with federal and state laws.  Continue reading “California Passes Immigrant Worker Protection Act”

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Labor & Employment

Employers Should Take Note of the Department of Labor’s Final “Persuader Rule”

By Steven M. Schneider
June 28, 2016

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued its final rule concerning the controversial “persuader rule” that greatly expands employers’ obligations under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (the “LMRDA”). The persuader rule, scheduled to take effect July 1, 2016, not only impacts employers with union-represented employees, but it also may impact employers who presently do not have union-represented employees or union-organizing activities.

Under the LMRDA, any person who pursuant to any “agreement or arrangement” with an employer undertakes to persuade employees to exercise or not exercise their right to organize and bargain collectively, is obligated to report specific information about such agreement or arrangement to the DOL. Historically, the DOL has treated most legal work to be exempt from these reporting requirements, provided that the attorneys avoided direct communication with their clients’ rank and file employees and the client was free to accept or reject the attorney’s advice.  However, the DOL’s revised persuader rule extends the reporting requirements to “indirect persuader activities” engaged in by attorneys. Continue reading “Employers Should Take Note of the Department of Labor’s Final “Persuader Rule””

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