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Administrative Agency Developments: April 2016
Practical Law Legal Update w-001-8931 (Approx. 4 pages)
Administrative Agency Developments: April 2016
by Practical Law Labor & Employment
| Published on 04 May 2016 • USA (National/Federal) |
This Legal Update reports on select federal administrative agency developments which occurred through April 2016, and which are not covered in our full-length Legal Updates, such as information about agency posters, notices, and agreements with agencies.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- April 11, 2016: DHS's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) launched a new "Study in the States" website resource library explaining through various visual aids the federal rules and regulations governing the international student process.
DOJ
- March 31, 2016: The DOJ's Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices issued a technical assistance letter providing guidance on an employer's obligations to comply with the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act when verifying an employee's citizenship status under US export control laws.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- April 21, 2016: USCIS has created a new Workload Transfer Updates webpage listing all of the workload transfers between its five service centers.
- April 1, 2016: USCIS posted usage statistics for the E-Verify program for the first quarter of 2016. The charts and statistics posted reflect the total E-Verify Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) by state and a chart of the top 20 industries using E-Verify as of March 31, 2016.
DOL
- April 13, 2016: The DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy announced the launch of TalentWorks, a free online resource intended to assist employers in providing accessibility to their web-based job applications and recruiting technologies for job seekers with disabilities.
Employment & Training Administration (ETA)
- April 8, 2016: ETA's Office of Foreign Labor Certification posted updated program factsheets for the second quarter of FY 2016 for the Permanent Labor Certification Program, Prevailing Wage Determination Program, H-1B Temporary Visa Program, H-2A Temporary Agricultural Visa Program, and H-2B Temporary Non-agricultural Visa Program.
OSHA
- April 18, 2016: OSHA published final regulations governing the employee protection (retaliation or whistleblower) provision of section 402 of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
NLRB
- April 20, 2016: The NLRB announced that on April 14, 2016, it conducted an Annual Review of its Revised R-Case Rules governing representation-case procedures, which became effective April 14, 2015.
State Attorney General Offices:
- April 13, 2016: The Attorneys General from nine states sent letters to a number of retailers expressing concern about unpredictable work schedules and seeking information about the companies' use of the "on-call shift" scheduling practice.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
- April 8, 2016: OPM issued a rule revising the definition of "spouse" in its FMLA regulations based on the US Supreme Court's 2015 decision holding Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The new definition allows same-sex spouses to obtain FMLA benefits in the same way as opposite-sex spouses.
US Department of State (DOS)
- April 12, 2016: The DOS issued a bulletin summarizing the availability of May 2016 immigrant numbers for: "Application Final Action Dates" and "Dates for Filing Applications," indicating when applicants for immigrant visas should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.
For additional labor and employment developments, see Labor & Employment: Updates.