On March 12, 2021, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation granting public and private employees paid time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The new law immediately requires all New York State...more
UPDATE: The Biden administration has announced that the implementation of this rule will be delayed by 60 days to provide for further review. Originally scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2021, the rule now has an...more
On March 5, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled in DeWeese-Boyd v. Gordon College, et. al. that an associate professor at a private, Christian liberal arts college did not constitute a ministerial...more
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued detailed health and safety guidance to inform employers and employees of recommended strategies to mitigate the risk of exposure to...more
2/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Health and Safety ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
OSHA ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Workplace Safety
On January 21, 2021, President Joe Biden used his first full day in office to issue an Executive Order focused on increased COVID-19 protections for the nation’s workers, including the most vulnerable essential employees. As...more
1/26/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Health and Safety ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
OSHA ,
Workplace Safety
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law, which provides New York-based employees with up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year. Covered employees began...more
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule revising certain regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) related to tipped employees. However, because of the timing of the new rule,...more
12/30/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Rules ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
December 23, 2020 On December 22, 2020, in response to the escalating concerns about the potential of a post-Christmas COVID-19 surge like that experienced after Thanksgiving, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued...more
On December 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued guidance for employers regarding the intersection of employer COVID-19 vaccine policies and various federal equal employment opportunity...more
12/21/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on December 10, 2020 rejected a broad challenge to Governor Baker’s authority to issue emergency orders intended to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rejecting both the plaintiffs’...more
On September 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled its long-awaited proposed independent contractor rule. The new rule sets forth a new standard for determining whether a worker can be classified as an...more
Responding to a recent New York federal court decision invalidating certain of its regulations interpreting the paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)...more
9/22/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Furloughs ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Layoffs ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Leave ,
Work Availability Requirement
Spurred by the uptick in remote work due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued a new Field Assistance Bulletin clarifying employers’ obligations to pay hourly, non-exempt...more
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. employers have struggled with how to address the unanticipated ramifications of the pandemic while at the same time meeting their obligations under federal labor law. ...more
8/20/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hazard Pay ,
Layoffs ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Retaliation ,
Sick Leave ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wrongful Termination
The rise in opioid use and addiction in the United States has raised complicated issues for employers. On August 5, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) addressed some of these issues by issuing...more
In March 2020, Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provided emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid family medical leave (EPFML) to millions of workers needing time off for...more
8/6/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EPSLA ,
Essential Workers ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation
On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board simplified its legal standard for determining whether an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act when it disciplines employees for engaging in abusive conduct...more
On July 24, 2020, Governor Charlie Baker issued an Executive Order imposing a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers entering Massachusetts. The Order, which goes into effect on August 1, 2020, applies not only to...more
On July 17, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in an issue of first impression, ruled that an Amazon delivery driver who brought a class action misclassification claim against the company was a transportation...more
On Wednesday, July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court weighed in on whether religious employers are required to offer their employees health plans that include contraceptive coverage. In its opinion in Little Sisters of the Poor v....more
7/14/2020
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employer Rights ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v Pennsylvania ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump v Pennsylvania ,
U.S. Treasury
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a new publication entitled Guidance on Returning to Work. The Guidance contains recommendations regarding best practices for employers...more
As businesses across the country move toward re-opening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) continues to provide updates to its guidance to employers relating to...more
In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held on June 15, 2020 that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is unlawful under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ruling...more
6/17/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
In December 2019, the National Labor Relations Board announced revised procedures for union elections that would extend certain pre-election deadlines and require certain disputes be resolved ahead of an election... These...more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance for employers who operate in office buildings. The CDC’s guidance provides recommendations on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within office...more
6/4/2020
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Ventilation Systems ,
Virus Testing ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Safety