New York City Postpones Enforcement of Automated Employment Decision Tools Law, Will Hold Second Public Hearing

As of December 15, 64,200 H-1B cap cases have been received by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) toward the 2010 Fiscal Year (FY 2010) cap of 65,000. With only 800 H-1Bs remaining, it appears likely that the FY 2010 cap will be reached within days. H-1B petitions for any individuals subject to the H-1B cap must be filed immediately to have a chance to be processed.

On June 20, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime exemption for “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles” at a covered dealership under section 213(b)(10)(A) of the FLSA. A 1970 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulation limited this overtime exemption to salesmen (who primarily obtained orders or made sales of vehicles) and excluded service advisors (who sold service and maintenance services) from its coverage. After several courts rejected this interpretation, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued an opinion letter in 1978 and amended its Field Operations Handbook in 1987 stating that service advisors could be exempt from overtime under section 213(b)(10)(A).  However, a 2011 final rule reaffirmed this initial regulation’s position. Because the automobile industry has relied on service advisors being exempt, and because the DOL released the 2011 rule without providing a “reasoned explanation” for its change in position, the Court ruled that the 2011 rule is not entitled to deference.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced an automatic six-month extension of the validity of employment authorization documents (EADs) for Salvadoran, Honduran and Nicaraguan TPS (Temporary Protected Status) beneficiaries. To benefit from the automatic extension, affected TPS beneficiaries must submit an EAD extension application.