Employment Regulatory Bodies and Enforcement

Why Attend?

• Examine the major enforcement and policy shifts under the current administration.

This program surveys recent developments and what to expect next from a guidance and enforcement perspective at the EEOC, DOL, and NLRB. The session highlights major enforcement and policy shifts under the current administration, including guidance reversals, resource-allocation signals, and emerging rulemaking and litigation trends.

Rather than a survey of black-letter law, the program is built around “what changes counsel’s advice” in real time: how agencies are framing priorities and where employer policies are drawing scrutiny. Attendees will leave with a counsel-oriented framework for identifying potential agency exposure, preserving defenses, and positioning matters for early resolution or, where necessary, for strong merits litigation.

Topics will include:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”)

• Rescission of EEOC’s 2024 harassment guidance (Jan. 22, 2026) and what that does (and does not) change for employer defenses, policies, and investigation protocols.
• DEI scrutiny and so-called “reverse” discrimination theories: how current enforcement messaging is influencing selection decisions, internships/fellowships, mentorship/sponsorship programs, and affinity groups, and how to risk-test DEI programming without abandoning lawful inclusion efforts.
• National origin/“anti-American bias” enforcement emphasis and how it may appear in charges involving recruiting pipelines, language rules, and “preference” allegations.

Department of Labor (“DOL”) and Wage Hour Division (“WHD”)

• New WHD Opinion Letters (issued Jan. 5, 2026). Using current guidance to inform close-call counseling, particularly exempt/non-exempt classification issues, bonus inclusion/exclusion in the “regular rate” for overtime calculations, CBA “roll call” time, commissioned-employee exemption mechanics, and FMLA leave accounting.
• WHD Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-3 (June 27, 2025), which limits pre-litigation supervised payments to back wages only (no liquidated damages).
• Independent contractor enforcement guidance (May 1, 2025) and what to expect in misclassification investigations.
• Overtime exemption salary threshold litigation/status (2019 thresholds applied while 2024 rule remains tied up in court).

National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”)

• The Cemex doctrine (2023): “recognize or file” plus increased bargaining-order risk for campaign ULPs. Remains under active appellate scrutiny and may be subject of potential Board retreat in light of Feb. 14, 2025, withdrawal of GC 24-01 (Revised).
• Deferral guidance (Aug. 7, 2025) renewing emphasis on Dubo/Collyer
• General Counsel Guidance Memoranda rescissions (GC 25-05, Feb. 14, 2025) and what it portends from an enforcement perspective.
• Joint-employer rule vacated (E.D. Tex. decision) and the practical counseling point: what standard to assume in day-to-day contracting/staffing risk management.
• “Reversal watch list” (precedent most likely to be narrowed or overruled): expect a Republican-majority Board/GC to revisit Biden-era doctrines.
• Constitutional/structure challenges (e.g., removal-protection litigation posture) and why counsel should watch forum and timing issues.

Registration Deadlines:

Cancellation Policy: Cancellation/transfer requests will be honored until 5:00 p.m. the day preceding the seminar. You will, however, be charged $40 if you cancel or transfer your registration to a different seminar after the link to the materials has been e-mailed by Virginia CLE^®.

Full refunds or transfers are available up to two days after a webcast in the unlikely event that you experience technical difficulties.

Dietary Restrictions: If you have dietary restrictions and are attending the seminar in person, please email deanna.mcglothlin@vacle.org.

MCLE Credit Caveat: The MCLE Board measures credits by the time you spend in attendance. If you enter a seminar late or leave it early, or both, you must reflect those adjustments accurately in the credits you report on your credit reporting form. A code will be given at the end of the seminar, which must be written on your MCLE form.

Private recording of this program is prohibited.

Can’t Attend?

E-mail distance_ed@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program is made available as an online or USB seminar.
E-mail publications@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program’s seminar materials are made available for sale.

Course Schedule

• Q&A will be handled via chat room for Webcast attendees.
• Q&A will be handled via e-mail for telephone seminar attendees.

Faculty

Victor Cardwell, Woods Rogers / Roanoke

Thomas Winn, Woods Rogers / Roanoke

About the Speakers

Victor Cardwell, Woods Rogers / Roanoke

Victor Cardwell counsels executive and human resources managers on a wide range of employer concerns—from harassment, sexual orientation and gender identity issues, retaliation, and discrimination. He offers guidance on workforce reductions, handbooks and agreements, unfair competition, wage and hour compliance, health and disability, discipline and discharge, employee leave, workplace violence, and labor/management relations—including union-organizing campaigns and union-avoidance techniques. Leveraging significant experience before state and federal courts and administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, he provides customized training to help employers foster safe, productive, and legally compliant workplaces.

Mr. Cardwell is recognized throughout Virginia as a formidable but approachable advocate for higher education clients. He has a 30+ year history of helping institutional leaders navigate the relationships and issues that arise between college and university boards and the stakeholders they serve. He advises private colleges and universities across the Commonwealth on a wide range of issues, including faculty, staff, and administration challenges, and FERPA, Title IX, and Title VII matters.

Additionally, Mr. Cardwell is the Immediate Past President of the Virginia Bar Association and serves on the Virginia State Bar’s Board of Governors for its Diversity Conference. He was named to the Roanoke Law Foundation Fellows Program in 2018.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly has recognized Mr. Cardwell as a “Leader in the Law.” He is regularly listed in industry rankings including Virginia Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America for Employment Law—Management and Labor Law—Management, including being named “Roanoke Lawyer of the Year.” He is recognized by Martindale-Hubbell in Litigation and Labor and Employment and by Chambers USA as a leading attorney in the Labor and Employment practice. In 2019, he received the Martin Luther King, Jr. “Drum Major for Justice” award issued by the local Roanoke chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Prior to joining WRVB in 1991, he served as deputy associate chief counsel with the U.S. Department of Labor Benefits Review Board. He has served as a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, representing Virginia, and was appointed to the Human Rights Council of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Mr. Cardwell lends legal counsel to many Roanoke-area nonprofit organizations including the Bradley Free Clinic, Center in the Square, Grandin Theatre Foundation, Mill Mountain Zoo, United Way of the Roanoke Valley, Science Museum of Western Virginia, and the Human Rights Council of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges. In September 2020, he was appointed to serve on the board of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. In the past, he has served on the boards of the Science Museum of Western Virginia and the Virginia High School League Foundation. He has also been an active volunteer with Cosmopolitan International.

Mr. Cardwell currently serves on the board of the Virginia Law Foundation and was inducted as a Fellow in 2025.

Thomas Winn, Woods Rogers / Roanoke

Tom Winn’s nationwide practice focuses on traditional labor/management issues, HR counseling, and employment litigation.

Mr. Winn devotes much of his attention to labor/management relations and NLRB matters. Peers have commented that “he is one of the most recognized traditional labor lawyers in Virginia.” He represents employers across the country in collective bargaining, grievances/arbitrations, NLRB litigation, union organizing and decertification campaigns, strike management, and other issues under collective bargaining agreements. He has extensive experience representing government contractors regarding collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, Service Contract Act compliance, and related issues. He regularly serves as chief spokesman in union negotiations and has handled more than 100 labor arbitration cases.

Outside traditional labor matters, Mr. Winn’s practice embraces the full range of labor and employment issues ranging from discipline/discharge, workforce reductions, handbooks and agreements, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, wage/hour compliance, health and disability, employee leave and benefits, and unfair competition. He represents employers before state and federal courts and administrative agencies, including the NLRB, EEOC, DOL, and OFCCP. Along with Patice Holland, he prevailed against the EEOC in a jury trial of a Title VII sexual harassment claim, obtaining a defense verdict on all counts.

Best Lawyers in America named Mr. Winn as the 2024 Roanoke Lawyer of the Year for Employment Law—Management and previously has named him Roanoke Lawyer of the Year for Labor Law—Management and Litigation—Labor & Employment. He is a Fellow in both the Virginia Law Foundation and Roanoke Law Foundation, and a past member of the Virginia Bar Association’s Board of Governors. He currently serves on the Governance Committee for the VBA’s Board of Governors and the Roanoke City Manager’s Economic Advisory Panel.

Chambers USA ranks Mr. Winn as a leading Virginia attorney in the Labor and Employment practice area. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2004 and is cited in the following practice areas: Labor Law—Management, Employment Law—Management, and Litigation—Labor and Employment. He has been acknowledged in Virginia Business magazine as a Legal Elite, by Virginia Lawyers Weekly as a “Go To Lawyer” for Employment Law, and named to the Virginia Super Lawyers list. He has received an AV Preeminent Rating and a Client Distinction Honor from Martindale-Hubbell, and a 10.0 Superb rating from Avvo.

Mr. Winn received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and graduated cum laude from the University of Richmond Law School where he was a member of the McNeill Law Society and the Client Counseling and Negotiations Board.

A native of Roanoke, Mr. Winn’s community involvement has included the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts of America, Opera Roanoke, Pathfinders for Greenways, DePaul Community Resources, and the American Red Cross of Southwest Virginia, among many others. He was named to the 2020–21 Pro Bono Service Honor Roll by the Virginia Access to Justice Commission.