With the announcement this morning that the country’s economic numbers have declined for the second straight quarter, many employers are fearful of a possible recession, or at least a sustained economic downturn – and are...more
Welcome to FP Forecast, a monthly outlook featuring Fisher Phillips thought leaders providing their insights into what employers can expect in 2022 and beyond. By following along each month, you’ll be in the best position to...more
A recent post by Alaura Jacobs, Product Marketing Manager at Mitratech, examined three ways in which workflow automation can benefit your organization when managing freelance employees – and there are obvious crossover...more
In a groundbreaking move that gig economy companies hope to be mimicked across the country, Washington just enacted a new state law that guarantees minimum per-trip pay rates, paid sick leave, and workers’ compensation...more
We were off by about 10 days. When we published An Employer’s Guide to the Baseball Lockout: Answering Your Questions About the First MLB Work Stoppage in Almost 30 Years way back at the beginning of December, we predicted...more
3/14/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Athletes ,
Baseball ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Lockouts ,
Minimum Salary ,
MLB ,
Sports ,
Uniforms ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
When President Biden announced on Friday that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be nominated to replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, history was made. Not only could she be the first Black woman...more
As gig economy businesses – and other employers that implement gig-like workforce models – gear up for a new year, it’s natural to look ahead and begin to set expectations for what the road ahead might bring. We’ve scoured...more
1/24/2022
/ ABC Test ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Business Model ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Ridesharing ,
Wage and Hour
In a surprise move, the Supreme Court failed to resolve either of the two pending workplace vaccine cases yesterday morning despite having announced a special decision day that led most Court observers to think that yesterday...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Supreme Court just blocked OSHA’s vaccine ETS from being enforced for the foreseeable future, meaning your compliance to-do list has gotten significantly shorter – but it has by no means disappeared. While today’s 6 to 3...more
In one of its final moves of the year, the National Labor Relations Board announced in late December that will reconsider the current legal standard for determining whether workers are independent contractors or employees....more
Perhaps no workplace law issue has generated more controversy in recent memory than the battle over the Biden administration’s vaccine rules currently being waged at the Supreme Court. The good news? By accelerating the...more
1/3/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The nation’s highest Court has announced it will step in and rule whether the Biden administration’s aggressive workplace vaccine strategy – including a mandate-or-test rule for larger employers and a strict mandate for...more
In one of the more shocking developments in a year full of surprises, a federal appeals court breathed new life into the Biden administration’s mandate-or-test emergency vaccine rule with a stunning Friday afternoon decision....more
Not 24 hours after a Missouri federal court temporarily blocked the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in 10 states, a Louisiana federal court took one giant step...more
A staggering 94% of employers reported that they have experienced more difficulty than normal in retaining and recruiting workers in 2021, with more than half (53%) reporting “severe” difficulty compared to normal times. And...more
With the spin of a wooden raffle barrel in a D.C. court clerk’s office and the random selection of a ping-pong ball, the fate of President Biden’s ambitious vaccine mandate-or-test rule could have been sealed. Late Tuesday...more
Federal workplace safety officials just released the mandate-or-test workplace vaccine emergency rule, and employers are sure to have questions. The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) developed by the Occupational Safety and...more
11/5/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joint Employers ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety
A sharp increase in pandemic-related workplace litigation this summer could spell trouble for employers, as we expect to see a steady increase in COVID-19 lawsuits filed by employees across the country. That’s just one of 10...more
9/8/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leave of Absence ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Small Employers ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
In an unexpected blow to gig economy companies in California, a state court judge just reversed the will of voters and overturned the law created by ballot measure that ensured that app-based rideshare and delivery drivers...more
8/24/2021
/ Ballot Measures ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Ridesharing ,
State Constitutions ,
State Labor Laws
The news this morning that the federal government fully approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could be a pivotal milestone in the fight against the coronavirus – especially when it comes to employers’ role in the battle. After...more
The proportion of employers mandating or considering mandating the COVID-19 vaccine increased nearly four-fold in the past three months, spurred by fears surrounding the Delta variant and the growing confidence that such...more
With the Delta-variant-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases leading to new CDC masking guidance, statewide mandates, and the specter of further restrictions, employers have a renewed interest in seeing the vaccination rate of their...more
Bolstering the renewed emphasis on increasing the number of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, a recent memo from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that just became public confirms that the “emergency use”...more
The EEOC kicked off the unofficial start of summer with a bang by clearing the way for employers to offer their employees incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine in new guidance released on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend....more
6/1/2021
/ Confidential Information ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family Members ,
Gifts ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The announcement yesterday from the CDC that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any non-healthcare setting was a welcome relief for all Americans and a hopeful sign that we have...more