Rick Alaniz, of Alaniz Associates, has been at the forefront of labor and employment law for over forty years. He began his legal career as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor, served on the President's Cost of Living Council during the Nixon Administration and also held prominent posts within the National Labor Relations Board, first in Washington D.C. and later in Minneapolis where he coordinated the NLRB's enforcement actions in the five-state Midwestern region. A Partner in private practice since 1985, his experience has only deepened Rick's enthusiasm for labor and employment law and his drive for continued excellence in the field. He is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Rick contributes dozens of articles per year on labor and employment law to trade journals and conducts numerous seminars each month to client companies and trade associations across the country.
March 2, 2022
The Department of Labor (DOL) reported that in 2021, 10.3% of the nation’s workforce, about 14 million workers, was unionized. This number drops to 6.1% for 2021. These are the lowest percentages since the passage of the National Labor ...
January 24, 2022
Approximately 43 million U.S. workers are classified as “exempt” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), meaning they are not entitled to overtime pay when working in excess of 40 hours in a work week. For a worker to be exempt, he/she must perform ...
December 21, 2021
It should come as no surprise that self-declared “union man,” President Biden, put enforcement of workplace regulations near the top of his administration’s priorities, surpassed in importance, perhaps, only by his commitment to resurrect unions as a ...
![OSHA[1]](https://cpa-practice-advisor-preprod.go-vip.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OSHA_1_.619d7b6ae300e.png)
December 1, 2021
President Biden promised to aggressively enforce all workplace laws during his campaign for the presidency. Biden’s direction to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to double its number of inspectors and increase workplace inspections is a significant indication of the administration’s commitment to this promise. There has been little evidence of any widespread OSHA...…
November 3, 2021
Employers have rarely, if ever, been confronted with challenges as difficult or unique as they have faced over the past 18 months. The Coronavirus pandemic has been one of those once-in-a-lifetime events that no one, especially employers, ever wants to...
September 30, 2021
In the past, the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) would commonly randomly select employers for compliance audits with the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Random audits have all but ended for a variety of reasons.
September 7, 2021
Some form of a national, paid family and medical leave program is supported by a majority of U.S. workers. One of the findings supporting the proposed 2019 Family Act was that such a program “has the support of more than eight in ten voters across ...
August 11, 2021
Most would agree that the majority of 2020 and the first half of 2021 has been one of the most difficult periods our country has ever endured. It is only natural to wonder what to expect for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
August 10, 2021
Most would agree that the majority of 2020 and the first half of 2021 has been one of the most difficult periods our country has ever endured. It is only natural to wonder what to expect for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
June 30, 2021
The success of the ongoing Coronavirus vaccination program, with about one half of the U.S. population already vaccinated, and the dramatic drop in hospitalizations and positivity rates support the conclusion that the pandemic is all but over.
June 14, 2021
Not until the last several years, while intermittently dealing with an acute lack of available applicants to fill job vacancies, have employers begun to more frequently struggle with the decision of whether to discharge a poor-performing or problem ...
May 18, 2021
Unlike common workplace policies such as time and a half pay for overtime or mandatory family and medical leave, which are legally mandated, no federal or state laws or regulations require employers to have written job descriptions.
