Q.  My office likes to celebrate Halloween. With all the talk about “creepy clowns,” should I be worried that our celebration will get out of hand?

A.     Creepy clowns are making national headlines as clown sightings spread throughout the country and on social media. Whether the clown prank turns more sinister remains to be seen. In the meantime, however, ‘tis the season of goblins and ghouls, and now is a good time to remind employees of some do’s and don’ts to maintain professional decorum while celebrating the Halloween holiday:

In Part 1 of this post, we began the discussion of what the Defend Trade Secrets Act, passed in May 2016, really means for employers in defending their trade secrets.  In particular, Part 1 addressed some of the “good” the DTSA offers for employers, particularly:  (1) a clear path to federal court, (2) consistency in application, and (3) ex parte seizure orders.  In this Part 2, we address the rest of the good — five more positive benefits of the DTSA for employers.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently announced its new entrepreneur program in which it is hoping to attract entrepreneurs from around the world to enter the U.S. and start U.S. businesses. Historically, that required either:

(1) Taking advantage of an existing E-1 or E-2 treaty between the investor’s country of citizenship (or perhaps multiple citizenships) and the U.S. leaving out the great majority of countries in the world and therefore citizens of those countries; or

(2) Investing at least one million dollars in the EB-5 program (though it could be reduced to $500,000 in high unemployment or rural areas).

Troutman Sanders invites in-house counsel, HR professionals and other executives charged with labor and human resources responsibilities to join us for our 2016 Annual Workplace Challenges Update on Thursday, November 10 starting at 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at IHG’s Crowne Plaza Hotel (590 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, 30308).

Q: I heard a lawsuit was filed challenging the implementation of the revised overtime regulations. Do I still need to take steps to comply with the revised rules by December 1?

A: Yes! While it is true that 21 states and more than 50 business groups have filed two lawsuits challenging the  Department of Labor’s revised overtime regulations, the filing of these lawsuits did not stay the effective date of the rules.  In the past few days, the House of Representatives passed a bill to delay implementation of the revisions by six months, and a similar bill was introduced in the Senate.  However, it is unlikely that either bill will be signed into law, given the President’s opposition to it.

Do you do business with the federal government?  If you do, you (hopefully!) know that keeping up with the rules and regulations of being a federal contractor are no easy task.  But we are here to help!

Lawyers at our firm, including HRLawMatters contributor Jim McCabe, have written an incredibly helpful article to help federal contractor employers comply with recent changes to their obligations. This article was recently published on the DirectEmployers Association website – and you can see it at this link here. 

Q: What does it mean to “ban-the-box,” and how does it affect our hiring process?

 A: Ban-the-box legislation is quickly spreading throughout state and local jurisdictions.  Even if your jurisdiction has not adopted such legislation yet, it is likely that it will do so in the not-so-distant future. Therefore, it is vital to understand both the rationale behind the legislation and how it will affect your organization’s hiring processes.

As discussed in Part I (posted earlier this week), a number of states and local municipalities have enacted paid sick leave legislation mandating paid time away from work for employees. While some of these laws are already in effect, others are coming soon.  Employers with operations in the following areas should revisit their policies and make adjustments as needed to plan for these upcoming changes:

A number of states and local municipalities have recently enacted paid sick leave legislation mandating paid time away from work for employees. Unfortunately for employers, many of these laws contain provisions that conflict with already-enacted paid sick legislation and require an adjustment of current policies, leading to confusion about requirements and entitlements.

Employers with operations in the following areas should revisit their policies and make adjustments as needed to remain current or to plan for upcoming changes:

Q.  Recently, two employees almost came to blows arguing over the merits of a Trump versus Clinton presidency. Can our company prohibit employees from talking about politics in the workplace?

A.  The 2016 presidential election has created the most intense and divisive political environment in recent memory. What can a company do if the banter of cable news, talk radio, and polarizing political Facebook posts spills into the workplace?