Administrative Agency Developments: August 2016 | Practical Law

Administrative Agency Developments: August 2016 | Practical Law

This Legal Update reports on select federal administrative agency developments which occurred through August 2016, and which are not covered in our full-length Legal Updates, such as information about agency posters, notices, and agreements with agencies

Administrative Agency Developments: August 2016

Practical Law Legal Update w-002-9112 (Approx. 6 pages)

Administrative Agency Developments: August 2016

by Practical Law Labor & Employment
Published on 06 Sep 2016 • USA (National/Federal)
This Legal Update reports on select federal administrative agency developments which occurred through August 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)

  • August 31, 2016: DHS issued its new proposed rule amending DHS regulations to implement the discretionary authority for the Secretary of Homeland Security discretionary to increase and enhance entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation in the United States. Written comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before October 17, 2016.
  • August 10, 2016: DHS released a new toolkit designed to help hospitality employees recognize signs of human trafficking.

DOJ

  • August 25, 2016: the DOJ announced the launch of an educational video reminding employers that Salvadorans with Temporary Protected Status may work beyond the September 9, 2016 expiration date of their employment authorization documents.
  • August 15, 2016: The DOJ issued a proposed rule amending the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) concerning unfair immigration-related employment practices. The proposed incorporate INA requirements as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). The deadline for comments to the proposed rule is September 14, 2016.
  • August 10, 2016: The DOJ announced the publication of a final rule revising its regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to implement the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). The final rule will take effect on Oct. 11, 2016.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

  • August 26, 2016: USCIS announced the proposal of a new rule, which would allow certain international entrepreneurs to be considered for parole (temporary permission to be in the US) so that they may start or scale their businesses here in the US.
  • August 16, 2016: USCIS announced that E‐Verify launched an improved process on Aug. 11 for E-Verify Employer Agents (EEAs) to enroll new clients. The changes include a new more navigable webpage layout, new and clearer helper text with expanded information, and improved data fields that require fewer clicks which will help decrease processing times.
  • August 1, 2016: USCIS issued notice that DHS is extending the designation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from October 1, 2016 through March 31, 2018, and redesignating Syria for TPS for 18 months, effective October 1, 2016 through March 31, 2018.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

  • July 27, 2016: CBP announced that it is expanding Global Entry, the agency's program for expedited clearance of pre-approved, low-risk travelers, to Columbian citizens.

DOL

  • August 26, 2016: The DOL's Employment and Training Administration implemented an enhancement to the iCERT System related to application submissions for temporary labor certification under the H-2A and H-2B visa programs intended to reduce burdens on employers and streamline application processing.
  • August 25, 2016: The DOL published final guidance to assist the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and federal contracting agencies in the implementation of Executive Order 13673, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces. For more on this Executive Order, see Legal Update, The FAR Council and the DOL Issue Final Rule and Guidance Implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order.
  • August 22, 2016: The DOL announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help stop the misclassification of workers in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
  • August 11, 2016: The DOL's Office of Foreign Labor Certification published a list of foreign labor recruiters (including the names and locations of those hired or working for the recruiters) engaged by employers to recruit prospective H-2B workers.
  • August 1, 2016: The DOL has updated its FLSA poster and Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) poster. Employers must comply with these two mandatory federal poster changes immediately.

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

  • August 15, 2016: OFFCP's updated sex discrimination rule for federal contractors and subcontractors took effect. The rule prohibits covered federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against their employees on the basis of sex.

Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP)

  • August 26, 2016: The OWCP issued a notice proposing rules to implement the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act's maximum and minimum compensation provisions.

OSHA

  • August 31, 2016: OSHA published a corrected final rule titled Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica. The original final rule was issued in March 2016 and became effective on June 23, 2016. The corrected rule revises typographical errors.
  • August 18, 2016: OSHA has issued interim guidance to provide employers and workers with information concerning preventing occupational exposure to the Zika Virus.
  • August 16, 2016: OSHA announced that the DOL is launching the "Expedited Case Processing Pilot" in its Western region, which allows a complainant covered by certain statutes to ask the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to stop its investigation and issue findings for the Office of Administrative Law Judges to consider.
  • August 15, 2016: OSHA has been holding temporary staffing agencies jointly liable for safety violations when temporary workers are exposed to unsafe conditions. OSHA has set up a website addressing the need of temporary staffing agencies and employers to comply with OSHA standards.

Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

  • August 4, 2016: The WHD announced it had signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (DLI), intended to protect employees' rights by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses.

EEOC

  • August 30, 2016: The EEOC announced that its Baltimore Field Office entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Mexican embassy in Baltimore to collaborate on providing Mexican nationals in Maryland with information, guidance, and access to workplace anti-discrimination resources.
  • August 29, 2016: The EEOC issued its final Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues, to replace its 1998 Compliance Manual section on retaliation.
  • August 1, 2016: The EEOC announced that it has completed mailing of the 2016 EEO-1 Survey notification letters, requiring all private employers with 100 or more employees and federal government contractors or first-tier subcontractors with 50 or more employees and a contract/subcontract of $50,000 or more to file the EEO-1 report by September 30, 2016.

US Department of State (DOS)

  • August 19, 2016: The DOS announced the issuance of new gonorrhea testing requirements for visa applicants. By October 1, 2016, physicians must implement the new instructions, including the requirement that all visa applicants 15 years of age and older undergoing a medical exam must be tested for gonorrhea.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

  • August 24, 2016: The OPM issued a proposed rule that would define Kent County, Michigan, as an area of application county to the Macomb, MI, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area and Cameron County, Texas, as an area of application county to the Nueces, TX, NAF FWS wage area.
  • August 24, 2016: The OPM issued a proposed rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Asheville, NC, and Charlotte, NC, appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas, redefining Alexander and Catawba Counties, NC, from the Charlotte wage area to the Asheville wage area.

SEC

  • August 2, 2016: The SEC (along with the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) issued an FAQ to its 2015 interagency policy statement on the establishment of policy standards for conducting annual self-assessments of diversity and inclusion efforts, in compliance with section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
For additional labor and employment developments, see Labor & Employment: Updates.