Hunton Retail Law Resource

The U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed a rule that would create a uniform standard for determining joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.  The proposed rule has significant implications for employers who share workers or rely on contractors, because a joint-employment finding may expand liability to multiple employers for wage-and-hour violations, leave obligations, and other statutory compliance issues.  The agency has said the proposed rule is intended to “reduce compliance and litigation costs, improve the Department’s ability to enforce the law, and help workers to better understand their rights and available remedies” while also promoting “greater uniformity in the analysis applied by courts.”

In the first four months of 2021, Virginia, New Mexico, New York and New Jersey passed laws legalizing or decriminalizing, in some form, recreational marijuana.  Exactly how these laws will affect employers in these states is still an open question, but for now, employers should understand the nuances of the laws so they can prepare for the emerging reality that is legal marijuana.  For retail employers, this means renewed attention to drug use and drug testing policies.  Retailers, for the most part, are still able to enforce policies against drug use at work, but must be mindful of how these policies, especially with regards to testing and marijuana, could leave them open to claims of discrimination or state law violations.  At a minimum, retailers should review their policies for each state in which they operate, as a “one-size-fits-all” approach may no longer be practical.