Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), which took effect on June 27, 2023, and applies to all employers with 15 or more employees. The EEOC issued proposed regulations in August 2023 and allowed public comment through October 11, 2023, with final regulations anticipated in late December 2023. As of the date of this alert, no final regulations have been published.
The SEC has adopted a number of substantive new rules that will require new disclosures as soon as December 18, 2023 for material cybersecurity incidents on Form 8-K.
On October 10, 2023, the SEC adopted final rules governing beneficial ownership reporting under Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These sections, along with Regulations 13D and 13G, require an investor who beneficially owns more than 5% of a covered class of equity securities to publicly file either a Schedule 13D (investors with control intent) or a Schedule 13G (investors without a control intent).
Earlier this year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to approve several amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, including promulgating a new guideline at §4C1.1, entitled Adjustments for Certain Zero-Point Offenders, thus paving the way for more lenient sentences for certain nonviolent, first-time offenders.
On August 30, 2023, the US Department of Labor published a new proposed rule to raise the annual salary level threshold for exempt workers to $55,068 per year. This new rule could become law in 2024.
The rule, proposed in March 2022, includes requirements about current disclosure of material cybersecurity incidents, and periodic disclosures about a registrant’s processes to assess, identify, and manage material cybersecurity risks.
Texas recently passed legislation creating a Business Court system to hear certain disputes between or among businesses and their owners or controlling persons and management regarding breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, corporate governance, and the like.
Given the expected increase in scrutiny of issuer buybacks, we recommend that companies consider taking some or all of the actions noted in this Alert before the fourth quarter of this year.
