Overview

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.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Member

American Bar Association

Member

International Bar Association

Member

Federal Bar Association

Member

Illinois Bar Association

Recognition

Recipient, CALI Award for Excellence in International Employment Law

News, Analysis & Press

Littler Global Guide - Hong Kong - Q2 2018

Global Guide Quarterly

July 20, 2018

Handling Human Rights Issues in Tech Supply Chains

Inside Supply Management

February 2, 2017

Human Rights Issues in Tech Supply Chains

Today's General Counsel

December 1, 2016

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

ACC Docket

July/August 2016

From “Soft-Law” to “Hard-Law”? News from the Regulatory Front

CSR & Human Rights Newsletter

December 1, 2015

Managing Employees During Political Unrest

Law360.com

March 30, 2011

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

2009 Employment Law Update

Wolters Kluwer Law & Bus

2009

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

2009 Employment Law Update

Wolter Kluwer Law & Bus.

2009

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

2007 Employment Law Update

Wolters Kluwer Law & Bus.

2007

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

2007 Employment Law Update

Wolters Kluwer Law & Bus

2007

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

80 CHI-KENT L. REV. 963

2005

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

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

2005

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

Speaking Engagements

2024 Midwest Regional Employer Conference

Minneapolis, MN

November 14, 2024

112th International Labor Conference

International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

June 3, 2024

2022 Midwest Regional Employer Conference

Minneapolis, MN

November 3, 2022

Human Rights Due Diligence and Transparency Obligations Under the German Supply Chain Act

April 26, 2022

Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal: An In-Depth Examination

Strafford Webinar

March 23, 2022

What Employers Need to Know About the PBGC’s Interim Final Rule About the Special Financial Assistance Program

July 19, 2021

Reduce Human Trafficking in the Supply Chain

Lorman Education Services Webinar

June 22, 2021

Input Statement

Digital Consultation to inform the upcoming report of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

April 9, 2021

Multiemployer Pension Relief: How the COVID-19 Relief Bill Impacts Employers

March 16, 2021

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

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

October 27, 2020

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

International Business and Human Rights Conference, Madrid, Spain

April 3, 2019

Multiemployer Pension Plan Withdrawal

Strafford

March 19, 2019

Discussion on the UN Treaty Process on Business and Human Rights

Webinar

March 7, 2019

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

Practising Law Institute

February 26, 2019

The Legal, Business and Human Rights Landscapes of the Global Workplace

Minneapolis, MN

September 26, 2018

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

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

May 3, 2018

Improving Effectiveness of Nonjudicial Mechanisms

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

November 28, 2017

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

United Nations Human Rights Council

October 6, 2017

Update on Treaty Process

2016 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, Geneva

November 16, 2016

Panelist

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

October 24-28, 2016

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

BDA | Confederation of German Employers, Berlin, Germany

February 18-19, 2016

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

2015 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

November 16, 2015

Employer Considerations for Operations in Mexico

Chicago, IL

November 4, 2015

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

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Labor, Immigration and Benefits Division, Washington, D.C.

October 28, 2015

International Business & Human Rights: What the Corporate Legal Department Should Know

October 13, 2015

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

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

July 7, 2015

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

The 2015 Executive Employer® Conference

Littler Mendelson, Phoenix, AZ

May 6, 2015

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

Littler Global Latin America Conference

Littler Mendelson, Miami, FL

March 6, 2015

Improving access to remedy: What needs to be done

International Conference on Business and Human Rights - International Organisation of Employers and the Fédération des Entreprises Romandes Genève (IOE-FER), Genève. Switzerland

November 19, 2014

The 2014 Charlotte Employer — International Edition

Charlotte, NC

September 23, 2014

The Contrasting Positions of the EEOC and the Courts on Key ADA Issues – What's An Employer to Do?

February 26, 2013

Leave Me Alone

Chicago, IL

March 8, 2012

Navigating the Top FMLA Concerns for Employers

Thompson Publishing Group Webinar

February 2012

Transitioning Employees Returning from FMLA Leave: Avoiding Legal Landmines

Thompson Publishing Group Webinar

December 2011

Dangerous Assignments: Practical & Legal Considerations

SHRM Webinar, Atlanta, GA

March 2011

Education

  • J.D., Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2006
  • B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2003

Languages

  • Italian
  • Spanish

Bar Admission

Minnesota
Illinois

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota