CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard’s overview this month includes two First Amendment cases, court decisions on telework as a disability accommodation, the growing trend toward state-mandated paid medical leave, a claim of national origin discrimination under Title VII, and New Jersey’s equal pay for temps law, the first to impose joint-employer liability on the employer employing the temp agency.
Yesterday, the Department of Labor (DOL) sent its proposed rule on “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees” to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. This is a required initial step before the proposed overtime rule is published. OIRA, part of the president’s Office of Management and Budget, is required to review all proposed and final rules, as well as all regulatory actions, before implementation.
CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard’s overview this month includes Supreme Court rulings on race-conscious admissions and the employer’s burden of proof in denying religious accommodation, court decisions related to the “equal opportunity harasser” defense and a claim of anti-male bias in Title IX enforcement, a pending lawsuit claiming a university’s anti-racism training created a hostile work environment, and more.
This morning, the Supreme Court issued rulings for the cases Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (UNC), both of which concerned the use of race-based affirmative action in admissions decisions at colleges and universities. The court ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions, ultimately striking down the practice of race-conscious admissions decisions on campus.
On June 21, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a markup of three labor bills championed by Democrats: the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 728), the Healthy Families Act (S. 1664) and the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (S. 567). The three bills passed out of the committee by a vote of 11-10 along party lines, demonstrating the challenge these bills will face to be passed into law.
As we embark on a new year at CUPA-HR, we want to take a moment to introduce the incredible leaders behind our higher ed HR association. CUPA-HR has been able to support and advance our profession thanks in large part to the tireless efforts of our national board members and other CUPA-HR leaders.
On June 14, the Biden administration released its Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, providing the public with an update on the regulatory and deregulatory activities under development across approximately 67 federal departments, agencies, and commissions. CUPA-HR’s government relations team has completed a thorough review of the Spring 2023 Regulatory Agenda and put together the following list of noteworthy proposed actions for members.