Romance in the Workplace
Last month, I took my 15-year-old daughter and her friends to see Coldplay in Las Vegas. It was a big stadium concert with confetti, special glasses and wristbands that lit up with the music. There was also a camera that highlighted members of the audience. Luckily, I was not caught on the camera canoodling with anyone. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Massachusetts. Unless you live in a cave where social media cannot enter (how did you get this newsletter?), you know that last week at a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts a couple was not so lucky. The chief executive officer and chief people officer of tech company Astronomer were caught embracing on the audience camera. Once they realized they were on camera they both immediately ducked causing frontman Chris Martin to say: “Wow, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” The problem was that the CEO is married to someone else.
The video went viral internationally. Astronomer put the CEO on leave, began an investigation and released a statement that read “[o]ur leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability." The CEO subsequently resigned.
This awkward viral moment should cause every company to think about its romance policies. Some options include:
- Allowing romance in the workplace subject to a separate policy forbidding sexual harassment
- Requiring couples in a romance to report their relationship to HR and sign an agreement about work conduct
- Forbidding romance between a supervisor and subordinate
There are a wide variety of options that can be customized for the dynamics of your company. Our firm can assist with these policies.
The OBBB
Depending on your perspective, you may refer to the recent budget reconciliation bill as the One Big Billionaire Bill or the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) neither of which is its official name. No matter what you call it, the OBBB is likely to have big impacts on employee health care and flexcare spending (FSA).
Beginning in 2027 (or earlier if a state obtains a waiver), the OBBB’s Medicaid work requirements will take effect. Many recipients will be required to complete 80 hours of work per month to qualify and the states must verify compliance. This means you may be asked to provide this information. HR should be prepared for this workload.
Starting in 2026, the OBBB will increase the dependent care flexible spending contribution limit from $5,000 to $7,500. This will help employees who pay for childcare or eldercare. Accordingly, employers will need to amend their FSA plan documents.
Expect More ICE Raids as the OBBB Provides Unprecedented Funds to ICE
The OBBB is providing an enormous increase in funding to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Protection (CBP) so that these entities can expand their deportation initiatives. The OBBB triples ICE’s budget in part so that it can hire 10,000 new employees. This will likely lead to more enforcement actions including more I-9 audits and workplace raids.
New Nominees for the National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been out of business for a while. Right after taking office, Trump fired a Democratic member of the NLRB—Gwynne Wilcox—leaving the NLRB without a quorum and unable to take action. Ms. Wilcox’s termination was unprecedented as NLRB members are typically only replaced when their terms expire. Ms. Wilcox sued, and a lower court ordered Ms. Wilcox to be reinstated. The Supreme Court blocked the lower court’s order and allowed Ms. Wilcox’s termination to stand for now. Litigation continues, but the Trump administration has begun moving forward to reshape the NLRB.
On July 17, Trump announced two nominees for vacant NLRB positions including Ms. Wilcox’s position. Trump nominated Scott Mayer in-house counsel at Boeing and James Murphy a former NLRB attorney. These two picks are expected to be pro-management. Their Senate confirmation could take a while but if they are confirmed, there will be a Republican majority at the NLRB unless the Supreme Court eventually orders the reinstatement of Ms. Wilcox.
The DOL Lessens Penalties for Wage Violations
In June of 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) under the first Trump administration issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2020-2 which curtailed the WHD’s practice of seeking liquidated damages in prelitigation proceedings. On April 9, 2021, the WHD under the Biden administration issued FAB 2021-9 which replaced FAB 2020-2 and authorized WHD to seek liquidated damages in prelitigation proceedings under certain circumstances. On June 27, 2025, the WHD issued FAB 2025-3 rescinding FAB 2021-9 and prohibiting WHD from seeking liquidated damages in pre-litigation proceedings, investigations and settlements.
By Corey Hunter
Question Corner
Off the Clock? Not So Fast: Compensable Time at Company Conferences
Q. One of our hourly, nonexempt employees is attending our company’s annual conference that includes activities after 5:00 p.m. Are we required to pay this employee for the time spent traveling to the conference, as well as for the events attended after 5:00? Would this time count toward time and one-half over 40 hours?
A. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs, conferences and similar activities is counted as working time and must be compensated, unless four criteria are met: attendance is (1) outside normal hours, (2) voluntary, (3) not job related, and (4) not performed concurrently with regular work. Working time, whether it be event attendance or otherwise, must be compensated, even if it occurs outside the employee’s regular workday. Whether an hourly, nonexempt employee should be paid for time spent at an after-hours event will depend on whether that employee typically works after 5 p.m., attends conference activities voluntarily, has job duties related to the activities, and works during the activities.
A separate set of criteria governs conference-related travel. Generally, if an employee is (1) a passenger on an airplane, train, boat or automobile, (2) travels during non-shift hours, and (3) does not perform work while traveling, that employee need not be compensated for time spent traveling to a conference. However, if any one of those criteria is not met, travel time may become compensable – although “typical” travel time, such as a morning commute, mealtime or other chunks of time that would have occurred during the same window – may sometimes be non-compensable.
Both event attendance and travel, if deemed working time, count toward overtime thresholds. Accurately determining whether these activities are compensable is crucial, especially for employers sending not one, but multiple employees to an after-hours conference or event. Employers should consult counsel to determine whether travel and conference time are compensable in any given set of circumstances.
