Enter to open, tab to navigate, enter to select
Administrative Agency Developments: November 2016
Practical Law Legal Update w-004-4728 (Approx. 5 pages)
Administrative Agency Developments: November 2016
by Practical Law Labor & Employment
| Published on 06 Dec 2016 • USA (National/Federal) |
This Legal Update reports on select federal administrative agency developments which occurred through November 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)
- November 22, 2016: DHS issued a final rule amending regulations relating to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that update and streamline the language for several procedural provisions and incorporate changes brought about by amendments to the FOIA. The rule becomes effective on December 22, 2016.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- November 30, 2016: USCIS issued policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual concerning eligibility requirements for immigrant investors and regional centers.
- November 23, 2016: USCIS issued a policy memorandum clarifying and supplementing guidance it issued in 2013 about designated family members of certain military personnel and veterans.
- November 14, 2016: USCIS announced the publication of a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
- November 2, 2016: USCIS updated its guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding health-related grounds of inadmissibility in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services's (HHS) rulemaking updating Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- November 23, 2016: CBP issued a rule adopting as final, with two changes, interim amendments to DHS regulations published in the Federal Register in May 2014 establishing the U.S. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Travel Card Program.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- November 21, 2016: ICE's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) issued a reminder that students participating in a 24-month science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) optional practical training (OPT) extension may train with multiple employers as long as they maintain compliance with all STEM OPT regulations.
DOL
- November 16, 2016: In National Federation of Independent Business v. Perez, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted summary judgment to the National Federation of Independent Business and denied the DOL's cross-motion for summary judgment, holding the rule was unlawful for the reasons the National Federation of Independent Business asserted. The court converted its preliminary injunction to a permanent national injunction preventing the DOL from implementing the rule. (No. 5:16-CV-00066-C (N.D. Tex. Nov. 16, 2016).) An interlocutory appeal on the preliminary injunction is pending before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (National Federation of Independent Business v. Perez, No. 16-11315 (5th Cir. Aug. 29, 2016)). (See Legal Update, Texas District Court Issues Nationwide Injunction Blocking DOL's Persuader Rule).
Employment & Training Administration (ETA)
- November 1, 2016: The ETA announced that the Atlanta National Processing Center (ANPC) will begin issuing PERM notification letters by e-mail beginning December 1, 2016 in an effort to ensure that PERM stakeholders timely receive ETA Form 9089 application determination notifications.
OSHA
- November 17, 2016: OSHA announced that it had issued a final rule updating its general industry Walking-Working Surfaces standards specific to slip, trip, and fall hazards. The rule also includes a new section under the general industry Personal Protective Equipment standards that establishes employer requirements for using personal fall protection systems.
Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
- November 17, 2016: WHD released Administrator's Interpretation No. 2016-2 providing guidance regarding the impact of state laws that prohibit the payment of subminimum wages to workers with disabilities on the enforcement of section 14(c) of the FLSA.
EEOC
- November 21, 2016: The EEOC has announced that it has issued its updated enforcement guidance on national origin discrimination to replace its 2002 compliance manual section on that subject.
NLRB
- November 7, 2016: The NLRB's Division of Operations-Management issued an advice memorandum providing guidance instructing regional offices to begin collecting four pieces of information from employers in connection with the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order: their Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) number, their Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number, their DUNS +4 suffix, and their Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- November 17, 2016: USDA issued the Farm Labor Survey (FLS) report in which it established the average annual wage rates, by region and the US, for field and livestock workers.
US Department of Defense (DoD)
- November 14, 2016: The DOD issued a prohibition barring federal dollars from going to contractors who use confidentiality agreements to bar employees from reporting fraud, waste, and abuse.
US Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
- November 21, 2016: OPM has released a proposed rule proposing to revise the regulations issued under the FLSA.
For additional labor and employment developments, see Labor & Employment: Updates.