In this special 150th podcast episode, Michael Schmidt is joined by his Cozen O'Connor colleagues David Barron and Jim Gale to discuss what is left of the FTC noncompete rule, if anything, and what employers should be doing...more
We first discussed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Proposed Rule banning noncompete agreements in our January 9, 2023, Client Alert, and again on April 25, 2024, when the FTC issued its Final Rule. The effective date of...more
This issue was first discussed in our January 9, 2023 Client Alert when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its Proposed Rule Banning Noncompetes. The FTC has now issued its Final Rule on April 23, 2024. As predicted,...more
In today's episode, Michael Schmidt offers the takeaways from the Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and is joined by his Cozen O'Connor colleagues for a roundtable discussion on the impact of...more
On October 11, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Order No. GA-40 placing restrictions on any entity (including private employers) from issuing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, subject to legislative action. It is...more
10/14/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Governor Abbott ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On June 10, 2021, OSHA issued updated COVID-19 guidance for all employers, along with its much awaited emergency temporary standard focused on health care workers. Importantly, OSHA continued in the footsteps of the CDC in...more
6/16/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In light of recent guidance issued by the Center for Disease Control and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), we have updated our Return to Work Checklist. This checklist is designed to help employers navigate...more
6/8/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Social Distancing ,
Telecommuting ,
Workplace Safety
Mandatory vaccination policies have long been common in the health care field with respect to illnesses like measles and the flu, but have not been implemented on a wide spread basis. To date, courts have generally found such...more
1/22/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On January 12, 2021, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling in Swales v. KLLM Transport Servs., LLC, wherein the court did away with the two-step Lusardi framework that most Fair Labor Standards Act...more
In today’s episode, Michael Schmidt is joined by his Cozen O’Connor colleagues, David Barron and Howard Schweitzer, to discuss the latest political and employment law implications of employers requiring employees to get the...more
With so much focus on the presidential election, there has been little mention of the meaningful changes to state laws approved by voters across the country. As noted below, many of these changes will have a significant...more
11/25/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lyft ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Minimum Wage ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Sick Leave ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
The latest projections estimate that nearly 300,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 by the end of 2020. Many of those individuals will be employed when they contract the virus, and a significant number will be workers in...more
Employees with school-aged children are quickly learning that back to school will not be a return to normalcy. Most schools are implementing modified education plans to provide for student and teacher safety in light of...more
On March 18, 2020, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provided up to two weeks of paid sick leave and an additional 10 weeks of paid family and medical leave to certain eligible...more
In today's episode, Mike Schmidt is joined by his Cozen O'Connor colleagues Howard Schweitzer (public strategies/gov't relations) and David Barron (labor and employment) to discuss what the next federal stimulus legislation...more
The COVID-19 outbreak has rendered many workplaces dormant, but frontline workers in the grocery, delivery, and medical fields are feeling the effects of the massive influx in demand for their services caused by the pandemic....more
4/9/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Protests ,
Right to Strike ,
Section 7 ,
Taft-Hartley Act
Many employers are wondering about what they can do to protect their workforce in the face of an unprecedented public health crisis associated with the coronavirus a/k/a COVID-19....more
3/16/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Examinations ,
Medical Leave ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Traveling Employee ,
Workplace Safety
With the outbreak of the corona virus dominating headlines, it is a great time to dust off the company policy on dealing with flu season and infectious diseases, generally, in the workplace. Contagious diseases are...more
1/24/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Flu Shot Rule ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Influenza ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
Texas has largely avoided the wave of marijuana legalization sweeping the country and the accompanying legal complications that have come along for the ride. Those days may be numbered as the Texas Legislature recently passed...more
9/5/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hemp ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Foods ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Plant Based Products ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
It’s hurricane season, and companies all along the Gulf should have a plan in place not only to address business continuity issues, but also the human resources and staffing questions that arise in the event of a natural...more
7/1/2019
/ Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Hurricane Season ,
Natural Disasters ,
On-Call Employees ,
Risk Management ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour
The Texas legislative session has come to a close, and the much expected law banning cities from implementing sick leave ordinances and similar employment laws failed to make it to the Governor’s desk. ...more
At the beginning of the Texas Legislature session this year, it seemed like a slam dunk that conservative lawmakers would stop Austin and other cities in their tracks in their efforts to pass employment laws like mandatory...more
4/11/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On Thursday, February 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes increasing the threshold at which employers can invoke certain “white collar” exemptions to the Fair Labor...more
A new year always brings new headaches for HR professionals. So far, 2019 has been off to a running start with a government shutdown, the early start of the next presidential campaign and talks of major immigration reform....more
1/29/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
FMLA Abuse ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Immigration Reform ,
Marijuana ,
Off-The-Clock ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sick Leave ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Although one can never be fully prepared for a natural disaster, it is important to be aware of the federal and state laws implicated in such situations. With hurricane season in full swing and in the aftermath of Hurricane...more