Department of Homeland Security Ends Covid-19 Temporary Flexibilities and Rolls Out New E-Verify Alternative Verification Procedures
September 21, 2023
Category: Legal Updates
Beginning in March of 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) allowed employers to complete the I-9 process remotely on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 4, 2023, ICE announced that these Covid-19 “flexibilities,” would end on July 31, 2023, and that employers would have until August 30, 2023 to conduct an in-person physical inspection for all employees remotely verified and hired during Covid-19.
On September 30, 2023, Florida will increase its minimum wage to $12.00. The increase in wage is a part of a yearly dollar increase that Florida instituted in 2020 following a voter-approved ballot measure. Florida’s minimum wage is set to increase to $15.00 by 2026. Because Florida’s tipped wage is $3.02, the increased minimum wage will increase the required cash wage for tipped employees to $8.98 in 2023 and presumably, $11.98 by 2026. All Florida employers are required to post the current minimum wage in their place of business where an employee can see it.
NLRB’s Cemex Decision Facilitates Union Recognition Even Without Elections
September 6, 2023
Category: Legal Updates
On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) released its long awaited Cemex Construction Materials Pacific (“Cemex”) decision. See NLRB Case No. 28-CA-230115. The crux of the Cemex case revolved around how to hold election procedures when an employer has allegedly committed unfair labor practices during the “critical period” of an election campaign between the filing of the election petition and the election itself. The NLRB responded to that question by instituting a framework that hearkens back to the Joy Silk standard used over 50 years ago, which required employers to bargain with a union unless it had a good-faith doubt of the union’s majority support among employees.