Wall Street Journal (02/16/12) Naftali Bendavid; Siobhan Hughes

Congressional negotiators working on a deal to extend jobless benefits and a payroll-tax cut say they have finalized an agreement, paving the way for a vote before the policies expire at the end of the month. House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), the two top lawmakers on the panel tasked with finding agreement, announced the deal just before 1 a.m., indicating that Congress will send a bill to President Barack Obama’s desk by week’s end.

Corporate Counsel (02/15/12) David Stanoch; Carolyn Budzinski

Lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2010 against high-tech companies and a related private class action lawsuit filed in 2011 highlight that antitrust laws apply not only to products and services but also to employers’ hiring practices. Noncompete agreements between employers and employees have not been deemed anticompetitive, but the DOJ investigations take issue with agreements between competing employers that hinder competition and restrict employees’ access to better job opportunities.

A lawsuit filed by DOJ against Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar challenged agreements that prevent them from contacting employees of another company unless the employee applied for a job opening. A separate lawsuit filed against Lucasfilm Ltd. centered on an agreement with Pixar that ensured the current employer would be notified of job offers to employees by the other firm and prevented either firm from counteroffering above the initial offer.

Experts say these lawsuits highlight the need for companies to consider how antitrust laws affect hiring practices. They should consider whether their employment practices involve agreements with competitors; whether their practices limit current or former employees’ mobility or salary, among other things; and the positions of their board members and officers outside the company.

NPR Morning Edition (02/16/12) Yuki Noguchi

People 55 or older generally take three months longer to find a new job than does the average person looking for a job, and given the tight job market, age discrimination complaints are increasing—but becoming more difficult to win. Gross v. FBL Financial Services Inc. has a lot to do with that, employment law experts say. That case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court; the majority ruled that a plaintiff must prove, with a preponderance of evidence, that age was the reason for discrimination. Essentially, Gross v. FBL increased the burden of proof for age discrimination suits. Since the ruling, hundreds of other cases have been thrown out.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says age discrimination is a growing problem. According to Stuart Ishimaru, an EEOC commissioner, “The number of formal complaints that come in to us understate the nature of the problem.” Ishimaru says hiring has been “a real conundrum for us. And frankly in this economy, where people are looking for jobs, they don’t have time to worry about a discrimination suit. They’re not going to be thinking about this.”

Mondaq (02/15/12) Stephanie Aranyos

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently published its final rule extending the recordkeeping requirements imposed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to employers covered by Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This rule will take effect on April 3, 2012.

Title II of GINA prohibits the use of genetic information in making employment decisions, restricts acquisition of genetic information by covered employers and entities, and strictly limits the disclosure of genetic information. GINA covers employers with 15 or more employees, employment firms, and federal sector employers.

The EEOC’s final rule imposes the same record retention requirements mandated under Title VII and the ADA to GINA. Employers must retain all employment and personnel records for one year from the date created or the date the personnel action was taken, whichever is later. All records relating to a charge filed under GINA must be maintained until final disposition of the charge.

Wall Street Journal (02/16/12) Melanie Trottman

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is working to improve workplace-discrimination protections for pregnant women and people caring for relatives, following complaints by employees who say they have been fired or treated poorly due to their status. The EEOC plans to give companies new guidance to make clear that the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act prevents companies from firing, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against a worker because she is pregnant. Meanwhile, the Americans With Disabilities Act contains provisions that could require companies to offer more accommodations to pregnant women.

Another option the agency could take is a tougher litigation strategy against employers, says EEOC general counsel P. David Lopez. The EEOC has filed 268 lawsuits alleging pregnancy discrimination over the past decade; 216 suits have been resolved, and plaintiffs have been awarded more than $42 million.