On 31 July 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law the Act Relative to Salary Transparency (the Act). The Act has been touted by the governor as an important step toward closing wage gaps and ensuring equal...more
Introduction - On 29 April 2024, the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued nonbinding guidance (Guidance) on how federal contractors and subcontractors (collectively...more
As employers explore ways to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the bounds of existing and emerging legislation and guidance, and as government agencies, states, and municipalities seek to regulate AI in employment and...more
On 29 June 2023, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, and reversed the longstanding rule that race can be considered as a plus factor among...more
UPDATE: SVB depositors are expected to be able to access their deposits on 13 March, 2023. We are closely watching developments on this topic. For more information, refer to this Joint Statement by the Department of the...more
Health care employment law was once again a critical focus for many legislative bodies in 2022. While much of our 2021 Year in Review focused on how states addressed the COVID-19 pandemic itself, most notably with respect to...more
2/21/2023
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Nurse Practitioners ,
Pay Data ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Telehealth ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Health care-related employment laws became a prevalent topic in 2021—the year of the COVID-19 vaccination mandates. States and the federal government continued to adopt differing approaches on mandates affecting different...more
Employers across the nation, especially those in the healthcare industry, continue to grapple with ever-changing and complex state and federal legislation regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. On 19 October 2021, the U.S. Court of...more
On 13 August 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace” for non-healthcare employers and...more
On 10 June 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health and Administration (OSHA) issued updated Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace for non-healthcare employers and workers (the...more
Effective 29 May 2021, most of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ remaining COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted and its face covering order will be rescinded and replaced with a face covering advisory consistent with the...more
The impact of COVID-19 on the health care industry can hardly be overstated. Numerous important employment law developments occurred in 2020 related to COVID-19 that impacted the industry, including guidance on mandatory...more
2/16/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Liability ,
Public Health ,
Racial Bias ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Telemedicine ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage-Fixing ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
On October 29, 2020, United States District Court Judge Denise J. Casper rejected the argument that the Massachusetts Uniform Trade Secret Act (MUTSA) preempts, and therefore bars, state law claims for misuse of confidential...more
On September 8, 2020, Judge Gregory Woods of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down the heart of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule revising DOL regulations on joint employer...more
Effective June 8, 2020, Governor Charles D. Baker’s COVID-19 Order No. 37 moves Massachusetts into Phase II, the “Cautious” phase, of its Reopening Plan. This follows the Governor’s June 1st COVID-19 Order No. 35, which...more
On May 18, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker announced a four-phase reopening plan that outlines protocols for the resumption of businesses, services, and activities across Massachusetts. Each phase is expected to...more
As states start to lift or relax restrictive measures implemented at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are preparing to reopen in some capacity. As highlighted in K&L Gates’ recently published Reopening...more
On April 28, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker issued COVID-19 Order No. 30 (the “April 28 Order”) extending the closure of non-essential businesses and organizations until May 18, 2020. The April 28 Order is the...more
The following PDF document is a list of suggested practices for businesses to consider during the reopening process. For additional industry-specific guidance, please consult the following addenda for the (1) retail industry;...more
On March 31, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker issued COVID-19 order No. 21 (the “March 31 Order”) extending his original March 23, 2020 emergency executive order requiring all businesses and organizations in...more
On March 23, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker issued an emergency executive order (the “Executive Order”) requiring all businesses and organizations in Massachusetts that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential...more
On March 18, 2020, Governor Baker signed a bill that will provide immediate financial relief to those who are or become separated from work as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak or actions taken by employers in response to the...more
On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) formally issued its final rule on joint employment under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). ...more
2019 brought continuing changes to employment law issues affecting the health care industry. The following Alert — prepared by K&L Gates’ collaborative team of employment lawyers dedicated to serving health care industry...more
1/29/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Drug Testing ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Over-Time ,
Physicians ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Violence
INTRODUCTION -
On January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formally published its final rule revising DOL regulations that address joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more