Michael G. Congiu

  • Shareholder
  • Co-Chair, Business and Human Rights Practice Group
  • Minneapolis
mcongiu@littler.com
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Michael G. Congiu has a distinct international and U.S.-based domestic practice.

Internationally, Michael is a recognized authority on international labor standards who has repeatedly been part of the U.S. employer delegation to the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, serving in the esteemed Committee on the Application of Standards and as the global employer spokesperson for cases assessing state compliance with certain ILO Conventions. Michael has advised the United Nations, and regularly advises multinational corporations and other business enterprises, on business and human rights and international labor issues.

He has also repeatedly testified at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG), that continues to explore a Legally Binding Instrument to Regulate the Activities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises. He also has been one of a small handful of technical advisors to the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights’ work on developing best practices for state legislation and practice as it relates to effective legal remedy, known as the Accountability and Remedy Project.

Michael has also represented employers before the OECD National Contact Points in the United States and in other countries and regularly advises on the following:

  • The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
  • ​The International Labor Organization and its Committee on Freedom of Association
  • The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and National Contact Points
  • The United Nations Global Compact
  • The Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise
  • Other international labor standard-setting or regulatory organizations

Domestically, Michael has a broad transactional, advisory and litigation practice that includes a specific focus on benefits issues and multiemployer pension plans. He regularly counsels and represents employers with issues involving the interplay between collective bargaining, multiemployer pension plan obligations, and withdrawal liability touching on the following laws:

  • The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
  • The Taft-Hartley Act
  • The Pension Protection Act
  • The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act

Michael serves as the Minnesota coordinator and liaison for Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI). Michael focuses on Minnesota state legislative and regulatory developments in employment and labor law, as well as municipal ordinances and regulation of the workplace. He assists the employer community in understanding and impacting Minnesota legislation before it becomes law.

While in law school, Michael served as a judicial extern to the Hon. Joan Gottschall of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and as a legal extern for Hon. Margaret Lee Herbert, supervisory administrative law judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He served as notes and comments editor for the Chicago-Kent Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society. In college, he was captain of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's men's soccer team.

Credentials & Recognition

Speaking Engagements

112th International Labor Conference

  • June 3, 2024
  • International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal: An In-Depth Examination

  • March 23, 2022
  • Strafford Webinar

Reduce Human Trafficking in the Supply Chain

  • June 22, 2021
  • Lorman Education Services Webinar

Input Statement

  • April 9, 2021
  • Digital Consultation to inform the upcoming report of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Testimony regarding Second Revised Draft on a Legally Binding Instrument to Regulate the Activities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises – Article 5 (Protection of victims), Article 6 (Prevention), and Article 7

  • October 27, 2020
  • United Nations Human Rights Council – 6th Session of Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG), Geneva

With the Emergence of More Regulation Concerning the Human Rights Due Diligence Process, What Is the Impact of a Spaghetti Soup of Laws?

  • April 3, 2019
  • International Business and Human Rights Conference, Madrid, Spain

Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal

  • March 19, 2019
  • Strafford

Discussion on the UN Treaty Process on Business and Human Rights

  • March 7, 2019
  • Webinar

Human Rights Disclosure Mandates: A Practical Compliance Guide Through the Maze of New Laws Around the World

  • February 26, 2019
  • Practising Law Institute

National Due Diligence and Corporate Responsibility Legal Developments in Canada, Australia, Germany and Switzerland

  • May 3, 2018
  • 2018 United States Counsel for International Business – Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Committee Spring Meetings, Washington, DC

Improving Effectiveness of Nonjudicial Mechanisms

  • November 28, 2017
  • 2017 U.N. Forum on Business and Human Rights, Geneva

The Role of Human Rights Due Diligence in Determinations of Sanctions and Remedies

  • October 6, 2017
  • United Nations Human Rights Council

Update on Treaty Process

  • November 16, 2016
  • 2016 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, Geneva

Panelist

  • October 24-28, 2016
  • United Nations Human Rights Council – 2nd Session of Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG), Geneva

Business and Human Rights Workshop – Exchange Between European Companies and Federations

  • February 18-19, 2016
  • BDA | Confederation of German Employers, Berlin, Germany

The Interface Between Judicial and Non-judicial Remedy: Experiences and Challenges

  • November 16, 2015
  • 2015 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Procurement as Policy: Minimum Wage, Paid Leave, Anti-Trafficking, Equal Employment Opportunity Executive Orders

  • October 28, 2015
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Labor, Immigration and Benefits Division, Washington, D.C.

Coverage of the Instrument: [transnational entities] and other Business Enterprises – Concepts and Legal Nature in International Law

  • July 7, 2015
  • United Nations Human Rights Council – 1st Session of Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG), Geneva

Business and Human Rights: The Increased Expectations Placed on Companies to Respect Human Rights and Strategies to Mitigate the Adverse Impact

  • May 6, 2015
  • Littler Mendelson, Phoenix, AZ

Additional Thought Leadership

Union Petition Under US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Highlights Labor Violations in Oil and Sugar Industries in Colombia

  • July/August 2016
  • ACC Docket

Managing Employees During Political Unrest

  • March 30, 2011
  • Law360.com

Designing a Bonus Plan That Rewards Attendance and Productivity Without Violating the FMLA

  • 2009
  • 2009 Employment Law Update
  • Wolters Kluwer Law & Bus

From Shopping Malls to Cubicles: The Contours of Restricting Political Speech in the Private Sector Workplace

  • 2009
  • 2009 Employment Law Update
  • Wolter Kluwer Law & Bus.

In the Shape-Shifter’s Shadow: Strategic International Union Organizing Along Multinational Corporate Lines

  • 2007
  • 2007 Employment Law Update
  • Wolters Kluwer Law & Bus.

Corporate Responsibility for Union Busting and Forced Labor Around the World: The Alien Tort Claims Act and the State Action Requirement

  • 2007
  • 2007 Employment Law Update
  • Wolters Kluwer Law & Bus

An End to Empty Distinctions: Fee Shifting, the IDEA, and Doe v. Boston Public Schools

  • 2005
  • 80 CHI-KENT L. REV. 963

From Rights to Remedies: The Alien Tort Claims Act, Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, and the State Action Requirement

  • 2005
  • South Carolina Journal of International Law & Business, Vol. 2

Books & Book Chapters

Misplaced Efforts: The United Nations’ Proposed Treaty Imposing Corporate Liability for Human Rights Violations

  • 2019 Employment Law Update
  • Chapter 11, Wolters Kluwer, chapter co-author Lavanga Wijekoon
  • 2019

Imposing Liability on Employers Under the Shadow of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

  • 2017 Employment Law Update
  • Chapter 4, Wolters Kluwer, chapter co-author Lavanga Wijekoon
  • 2017

Whistleblowing & Retaliation: A Guide for Human Resources Professionals & Counsel, Chapter 10

  • International Whistleblowing Issues
  • LexisNexis and Littler Mendelson, 5th Ed., Chapter Co-Authors: P. Berkowitz and L. Wijekoon
  • 2014

Leveling the Playing Field: Examining Firestone Deference in Delinquent Contribution Lawsuits, Chapter 2

  • 2014 Employment Law Update
  • Wolters Kluwer, chapter co-authors: Stefanie H. Kastrinsky and Lavanga V. Wijekoon
  • 2014

The Soft-Law Revolution – International Labour Standards and Human Rights

  • The International Comparative Legal Guide to Employment & Labour Law 2012
  • Global Legal Group, chapter author
  • 2012

International Whistleblowing Issues, Chapter 10

  • Whistleblowing & Retaliation: A Guide for Human Resources Professionals & Counsel
  • LexisNexis and Littler Mendelson, 3rd Ed., chapter author
  • 2010

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