On July 3, 2024, the Federal District Court in the Northern District of Texas in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission granted a preliminary injunction staying the effective date of the FTC’s non-compete rule and enjoining the FTC from enforcing it against the specific plaintiffs who challenged it (Ryan, LLC, the US Chamber of Commerce, and a few other business groups which were previously permitted to intervene in the lawsuit).  The Court declined to enter a nationwide injunction, and, absent additional legal developments or a voluntary nationwide stay by the FTC, the non-compete rule is still set to go into effect on September 4, 2024 for all other covered employers.  In its decision, the Court indicated that it intends to rule on the merits of the case by August 30, 2024, in advance of the rule’s September 4, 2024 effective date. 

Maryland was one of the first states to implement a pay transparency law in 2020, and now it joins several states in broadening that law to require employers to disclose a wage range for open positions (Washington, D.C.’s pay transparency law, for example, which we wrote about here will become effective on June 30, 2024).  Since 2020, employers in Maryland have been required to provide, when requested by an applicant, the wage range for the position to which the applicant applied. Maryland will now require employers to proactively disclose in their public and internal job postings the wage range for the position. Maryland’s new law will go into effect on October 1, 2024.

Mayor Bowser recently signed into law D.C.’s Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment of 2023.  The new law expands the existing wage transparency law in two important ways.

After several months, the EEOC has once again updated its guidance and answers regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s interaction with anti-discrimination laws, with a particular focus on the workplace screening, testing, and mandatory vaccination policies.  This guidance, updated on July 12, 2022, provides important clarifications to Section A (Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Exams), Section C (Hiring and Onboarding), Section G (Return to Work), and Section K (The ADA and COVID-19 Vaccinations).  Mintz Employment Attorney Danielle Bereznay discusses the key details.