Former President Donald Trump’s election to a second term in the White House is sure to reshape immigration law and enforcement. What should employers expect, and how can they prepare?
The judge determined that the Biden administration lacked statutory authority for the program.
The Department of Labor proposes to amend the regulations consistent with recent federal litigation by clarifying existing requirements for employer-provided surveys for the H-2B program. DOL also proposes to add new requirements and eliminate Form ETA-9165.
The bulletin includes information on final action dates for employment-based visa preference cases, dates for filing of employment-based visa applications, diversity visa (DV) updates for December, and DV category rank cut-offs for January 2025, among other things.
The DHS, in consultation with the DOS, has announced the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant worker visa programs for the next 12 months.
The Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Department of Labor, will publish a temporary final rule on December 2, 2024, making available an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for fiscal year 2025.
On November 27, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice designating Lebanon for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months. Accompanying the announcement is a Special Student Relief notice for F-1 nonimmigrant students from Lebanon.
The Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification announced court orders issued by the Eastern District of Kentucky and Southern District of Mississippi associated with implementation of the 2024 Farmworker Protection Final Rule.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, on November 25, 2024, issued notice of its intent to adopt a series of new and amended rules that would convert a currently voluntary triennial program for reporting air toxics emissions into a mandatory annual program for most permit holders.
The State of Minnesota is less than one month away from banning the sale, offer for sale or distribution for sale of 11 categories of consumer products if those products include intentionally added per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Purpose credit refers to loans made to purchase or carry certain securities that is secured by such stock allowing the borrower to leverage their investments. This practice poses risks, as it can lead to substantial financial losses if the value of the securities declines. Bankers are familiar with this topic, but from time to time it is good to go back to the basics to understand banks’ obligations related to purpose credit.
The FTC has struck out in enforcing its final rule banning employment noncompetes, but there are more innings to go. Keep in mind that the rule would not have applied to entities exempt from the FTC’s jurisdiction. However, federal banking regulators retain discretion to apply the rule to entities under their jurisdiction.
With the proliferation of tools like Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, PayPal, and ApplePay, nearly every bank has now dealt with consumer fraud perpetrated through mobile payment apps, particularly with respect to P2P functionality. So, who bears the loss when a customer reports that they have been the victim of fraud perpetrated against their deposit account, debit card, or credit card linked to a P2P app? The analysis is more complicated than one might think, often leaving both banks and consumers disappointed and frustrated.
Iowa and Minnesota are not known for oil and gas production, and with good reason — there isn’t any. But despite a history of oil or gas production in either state, recent discoveries prompted the 2024 sessions of the Iowa and Minnesota legislatures to revisit their oil and gas statutes.
On Friday, November 15, 2024, a federal district court struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2024 rule increasing the minimum salary required for the most common overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Iowa landlords are likely to receive long-awaited clarity on notice requirements under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act from the Iowa Supreme Court in a pending appeal case where Fredrikson attorneys, Jodie McDougal and Jack O’Brien, filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of multiple statewide landlord associations.
On October 9, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule under the 2018 Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) governing the release of pollution to U.S. waters incident to the operation of ships, including unique requirements applicable to Great Lakers freighters.
On September 26, 2024, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously adopted the recommendations of the Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) regarding how the Commission should interpret new or amended terms added to Minn. Stat § 216B.169.
Many employers are intimately familiar with the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which requires up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave for qualified employees of covered employers. Here we discuss three common FMLA-related mistakes we encounter as business advisors.
The Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for benefit plans.
With the November 5 general election looming, employers should be reminded of Iowa’s law regarding time off to vote, Iowa Code § 49.109. Polls in Iowa will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. statewide on November 5.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced several measures “to provide temporary immigration reprieve to eligible Lebanese nationals currently in the United States” and to allow them to request work authorization, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), and Special Student Relief.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved International Education Evaluations, LLC, as a new credentialing organization for healthcare workers for certain immigration purposes.
On October 11, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an update to its guidance on expedite requests, effective immediately.
On October 2, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued policy guidance, effective immediately, to further clarify the types of evidence that the agency may evaluate to determine eligibility for extraordinary ability (E11) EB-1 immigrant visa classifications.
The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs announced on October 3, 2024, that it is reducing processing times for passports to four to six weeks, down from six to eight weeks.
Disputes regarding failures to disclose material facts are common in residential real estate transactions. A number of courts have considered the issue of whether a seller is obligated to disclose the existence of paranormal or violent occurrences on the property.
On October 17, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously voted to finalize its rule with plans for exercising its limited authority over transmission line siting. Order No. 1977 clarifies that FERC has the authority to issue transmission permits within U.S. Department of Energy-designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC) even after states deny an application in these areas.
Through Executive Order, President Biden has announced both Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Lebanese nationals. These designations have two different time periods for qualification yet provide similar benefits.
Ever since remote work became a normal reality for corporate employees, it is not surprising to see an increase in the use of personal devices for business purposes. This means text messages on company-owned phones and personally owned phones that are used for business purposes can be a relevant data source in litigation.
Most people building a home enter into an agreement with a general contractor. In turn, that general contractor enters into agreements with subcontractors to actually build the home. At first glance, it may seem that those subcontracts are intended to benefit the homeowner, as the work under the subcontract will result in the construction of their home. However, in a recent decision, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals found that a homeowner was not a third-party beneficiary to a subcontract.
As we approach election day, employers are likely to notice an increase in discussions about political and social issues in the workplace.
The emergence of tools designed to produce new imagery, video and sound based on generative artificial intelligence/machine learning is raising questions about the efficacy of current laws governing the use and protection of human made content. We recently had the opportunity to survey this legal landscape in a matter involving the use of AI to recreate the voice of a well-known public figure.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on September 19, 2024, that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025.
As of September 10, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is automatically extending the validity of permanent resident cards (green cards) to 36 months for lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.
On September 9, 2024, the Department of State (DOS) announced the issuance of all available visas in the employment-based second preference (EB-2) visa category for fiscal year (FY) 2024.
The Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced a revised transition schedule (scroll to September 10, 2024) for receiving and processing H-2A job orders and Applications for Temporary Employment Certification under the Farmworker Protection Rule, along with other technical guidance.
The California Service Center (CSC) has moved to a new facility.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its guidance on when students may be eligible for optional practical training (OPT) extensions for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
A Texas District Court has temporarily stopped the Biden administration's "Keeping Families Together" parole-in-place program.
According to reports, the Biden administration plans to resume a program that allows would-be migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to apply from their home countries for entry into the United States.
Pay transparency laws are increasingly being implemented across the United States with a purported goal of increasing fairness, addressing wage inequalities and promoting a more transparent hiring process.
Back in February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its widely discussed decision in McLaren Macomb that drastically shifted the standard for determining the lawfulness of common employee separation agreements. In short, the NLRB ruled that a hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act by unlawfully furloughing eleven employees without bargaining with the union, by directly dealing with those employees in offering them separation agreements, and by offering separation agreements with facially unlawful confidentiality and nondisclosure terms.
On August 19, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a Federal Register notice to implement Keeping Families Together, a parole-in-place process for certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens. DHS estimated that up to 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens may meet the eligibility criteria.
The Department of State (DOS) announced on August 16, 2024, that annual limits have been reached in the EB-3, EW, and EB-5 unreserved categories for this fiscal year.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on August 5, 2024, that it has completed its second random selection to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B regular cap numerical allocation.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an update to its policy on Ukrainian employees with parole, stating that E-Verify employers should not create a case in E-Verify for re-paroled employees unless they are newly hired.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the expiration date of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to 05/31/2027.
On July 26, 2024, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the deferral, for 18 months, of the removal of any Lebanese national who was present in the United States on that date, with a few exceptions.
On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced actions to more efficiently process employment-based nonimmigrant visas for those who have graduated from college in the United States and have a job offer.
