A new presidential administration means a flurry of activity affecting employers and employees. One could argue that a change in administrations is equivalent to a lawyer’s relief act. For instance, as expected, President Biden immediately rescinded the rather vague and broad Executive Order 13950 affecting implicit bias training enacted out of concern for impermissible stereotyping. He also suspended for 60 days any proposed or pending regulations, even those already published in the Federal Register, including those governing independent contractor status under the FLSA (published on January 7, 2021), Tip Pooling Regulations (published on December 30, 2020), EEOC Conciliation Procedures (published January 14, 2021) and proposed Voluntary Wellness Program rules. As a result, FLSA Administrator Opinion Letters (Nos. 2021-4, 2021-8 and 2021-9) on those topics have been withdrawn as being premature. You have not read about many of them here because I (and many others) anticipated this and did not want to spend time learning and explaining rules that may never see the light of day. I still remember when President Carter proposed various regulations that were also similarly suspended (and never enacted) by President Reagan. Some of these may end up getting approved in a revised fashion. Or maybe not.
NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.
