Employers faced another challenging year in 2021, attempting to keep up with constantly changing regulations and laws addressing the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, while still facing traditional legal issues such as discrimination and worker classification. Below is a review of five of the biggest developments in employment law over the past year.

• Political landscape changes. The introduction of a new administration in Washington, D.C., brought about a major shift in policy on employment-related issues this year. On his first day in office, President Joseph Biden signed an executive order reinforcing that Title VII protects against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and instructed federal agency heads to review existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs or other agency actions to ensure conformity with this position. He later revoked his predecessor’s prohibitions on diversity training and pushed for increased competition, including a crackdown on noncompetes.

  The new direction was already seen in the efforts of various federal agencies as well. In September, the National Labor Relations Board sent a strong message of enforcement and the potential consequences for violations, issuing a pair of memos to its Regions encouraging the use of “every possible tool” in seeking remedies. The Department of Labor rescinded several rule changes made by the previous administration, including more employer-friendly versions...

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