Employment Archives | EMPLOYEE BENEFITS BLOG

FTC chairman warns healthcare employers about noncompetes

by McDermott Will & Schulte | Sep 23, 2025 | Employment

On September 10, 2025, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent letters to major healthcare employers and staffing agencies, encouraging them to review their use of noncompete agreements and restrictive covenants. He warned that the FTC will pursue enforcement against overly broad or unjustifiably restrictive noncompetes that hinder worker mobility or limit patient choice. This action, among others, signals the FTC’s intent to scrutinize such agreements – particularly in the healthcare sector – on a case-by-case basis.

Learn more about the FTC’s letters here.

DOJ guidance on unlawful discrimination: Implications for DEI practices in the private sector

by Stephania Sanon, Chris Braham, Martin L. Schmelkin, Ronald E. Richman, Mark E. Brossman, Donna K. Lazarus and Scott A. Gold | Sep 18, 2025 | Employee Benefits, Employment

On July 29, 2025, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a guidance memorandum that defines what it considers to be “unlawful discriminatory policies and practices” under federal civil rights laws. The guidance also includes a list of non-binding “best practices” to help entities decrease the risk of legal violations. While the guidance is primarily geared toward federal funding recipients, the DOJ warns that private employers subject to federal civil rights statutes should review the guidance and ensure their employment practices do not run afoul of federal law.

Learn what implications the DOJ’s guidance has for DEI practices in the private sector.

AI in employer-sponsored group health plans: Legal, ethical, and fiduciary considerations

by Alden Bianchi, Jacob Mattinson, Sarah Raaii and Haley Dow | Sep 16, 2025 | Digital Health, Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

Artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly been integrated into the tools used by and for employer-sponsored group health plans, prompting a multitude of concerns. In this article, we discuss key issues that require immediate attention from both plan sponsors and plan administrators.

Find out the legal, ethical, and fiduciary considerations employer-sponsored group health plans should keep in mind when using AI tools.

Florida expands rules favoring noncompetes while other states limit them further

by Brian Mead, Jean Edmonds and Ruben Garza | Jul 15, 2025 | Employment

2025 has seen a flurry of new state laws regulating employee restrictive covenant agreements, especially in the healthcare sector, with many states tightening restrictions but Florida taking a different approach. This diverse legal landscape poses significant challenges for employers, particularly those operating in multiple states, as they must navigate and comply with a patchwork of varying regulations.

Read more here.

Risk Management in the Modern Era of Workplace Generative AI

by Marjorie C. Soto Garcia, Brian Casillas and Rebecca L. Richard | Jun 12, 2025 | Employment

As human resources (HR) leaders plan to expand the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the workplace, nearly a dozen states have enacted or are considering legislation to regulate its use in employment practices. Additionally, courts are seeing class actions involving alleged disparate impact discrimination and wage and hour violations related to GenAI. Implementing GenAI technologies without understanding their algorithms or data usage can expose employers to legal risks such as potential class actions based on privacy, AI regulations, and employment claims.

Read more here.

Understanding and Navigating Compliance With NIH Grant DEI Policies

by Chris Braham, Rachel B. Cowen, Darshak S. Dholakia, Gregory Fosheim, Marshall E. Jackson, Jr., Travis Jackson, Tony W. Torain, II and Tara Ward | May 13, 2025 | Employment

On April 21, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a notice regarding its policy to require all US grant recipients to certify that:

They do not, and will not during the term of receiving funds from the NIH, operate any programs that advance or promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA); or discriminatory equity ideology (collectively, DEI) in violation of federal anti-discrimination law; and
They do not engage in, and will not during the term of this award engage in, a discriminatory prohibited boycott.

Members of McDermott’s Employment and Health & Life Sciences Groups created a document to help NIH grant recipients evaluate where any company policies and practices need to be changed prior to providing the above-referenced certification.

Read more here.

DOJ Secures Its First-Ever Conviction in a Criminal Antitrust Labor Market Trial

by Royce Brosseau and Katharine O’Connor | May 1, 2025 | Employment, Labor

On April 14, 2025, a federal jury convicted a home health agency executive in a wage-fixing conspiracy under the Sherman Act, marking the US Department of Justice’s first-ever criminal antitrust labor market trial conviction. This conviction marks a significant milestone in antitrust enforcement, highlighting the government’s commitment to addressing labor market wage-fixing and no-poach agreements, and underscores the need for companies to ensure compliance with antitrust laws to avoid legal risks.

Read more here.

The Employee Retention Credit: How to Litigate and Resolve Claims

by Shawn O’Brien, Samuel Hamer and Michael Scarduzio | Apr 10, 2025 | Employee Benefits, Employment

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC), introduced under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in March 2020, was designed to help employers retain employees during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering a refundable tax credit against certain employment taxes. However, the processing and payment of ERC claims have faced significant delays, with many claims remaining unprocessed or disallowed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In this Bloomberg Tax article, Shawn O’Brien, Samuel Hamer, and Michael Scarduzio summarize each ERC stage and outline a taxpayer’s path to payment by stage.

Access the article.

Ensuring Lawful DEI Practices: New EEOC and DOJ Guidelines for Employers

by Chris Braham, Rachel B. Cowen and Alivia Combe-DuQuet | Apr 3, 2025 | Employment

On March 18, 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released two technical assistance documents to help inform what each agency views as “unlawful” discrimination related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the workplace. These documents offer critical insights into how the EEOC and DOJ will interpret and enforce laws related to DEI programming, highlighting the need for employers to ensure compliance.

Read more here.

Fourth Circuit Stays Preliminary Injunction of Executive Orders Related to DEI Programs

by Chris Braham, Rachel B. Cowen, Tara Ward and Alivia Combe-DuQuet | Mar 20, 2025 | Employment

On March 14, 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a stay on the US District Court for the District of Maryland’s nationwide preliminary injunction of US President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) that target diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs – namely, EO Nos. 14151 and 14173 – which allows the government to implement and enforce the EOs while litigation continues.

Read more here.

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