President Biden is ramping up measures aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. He announced a series of new actions on September 9, 2021, including a plan to require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their...more
9/29/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Workers ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Service Contract Act ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
If your company does business with the federal government or subcontractors of the federal government, you may have to require that your employees become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8, 2021.
On...more
9/28/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Joe Biden ,
Medicaid Reimbursements ,
Medicare ,
OSHA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Service Contract Act ,
Vaccinations
Effective September 1, 2021, Texas has joined a growing list of states that have passed enhanced legal protections for victims of workplace sexual harassment. S.B. 45 amends current law relating to the prohibition against...more
Yesterday, America celebrated Labor Day as a National Holiday for the 127th time. The very first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. The first Labor Day was an outgrowth of the burgeoning...more
Mandatory Vaccination Policies are on the Rise -
On August 23, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. In the days that followed (and encouraged by President...more
8/31/2021
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
State and Local Order Rule and Regulatory Impact -
Q: Does the CDC’s new guidance for vaccinated people impact state and local orders or rules that may still require mask wearing and social distancing?
A: No. As...more
5/18/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
For more than a year, the world has reacted to and adjusted for COVID-19. Now, with the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, there is light at the end of the tunnel and individuals and companies can start moving forward and planning...more
4/1/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Indemnification Clauses ,
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) ,
Masks ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Remote Working ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On the heels of a year beset by turmoil and the myriad challenges caused by the global pandemic, the cannabis industry nevertheless entered 2021 poised for significant growth amid a landscape teeming with opportunity. Public...more
2/26/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Capital Markets ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Financial Institutions ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Insolvency ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Restructuring ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Last week, recently appointed acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Peter Ohr withdrew 10 separate guidance memos that were issued by his predecessor Peter Robb (a 2017 Trump appointee). These...more
On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its Guidance on COVID-19 (COVID) in the form of additional FAQs. The EEOC has now answered the questions on many employer’s minds - whether...more
12/17/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Guidance Update ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Remote Working ,
Vaccinations
The IRS recently issued tax guidance to the cannabis industry in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs). These FAQs were followed up with the announcement by the IRS of a marijuana industry website that provides...more
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, one question that has surely raced through the minds of many employers is, “If one of my workers gets sick from COVID-19, can I be sued?”
This author’s longstanding view on lawsuits...more
On August 8, 2020 President Donald Trump issued four different executive actions in response to the breakdown in negotiations with congressional leaders over the next wave of economic stimulus programs designed to aid workers...more
As COVID-19 continues to prompt many school districts and daycare centers to remain closed for on-site instruction and care this Fall, this creates a serious dilemma for working parents. Employers are struggling to meet...more
What is an employer to do when an employee makes profane or offensive speech in the context of a union-management meeting? On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision that supports a private...more
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, employers have been placed in the position of having to deal with numerous conflicting legal and moral obligations. Prior to the pandemic, by virtue of the...more
On May 7, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that, due to the impact of COVID-19 on workplaces, it would delay collection of EEO-1 reports nearly a year – until 2021. The agency plans to start...more
As we previously reported, on April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a temporary rule (“the Rule”), at 29 C.F.R. § 826, regarding administration of the paid leave provisions in the Families First...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“DOL”) published additional Q&As regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“the Act”) on March 26, 2020, which address some of the open issues regarding the...more
On March 18, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) was passed and signed into law. The Act, which applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees, provides for employer-paid for leave for workers who need...more
3/31/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business ,
Tax Relief ,
Unemployment Insurance
The United States Senate passed The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”), without any changes to H.R. 6201, passed by the House earlier this week. The Senate followed suit, passing the Act, including technical...more
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc on markets and industries in the U.S. and around the world, businesses are now confronting significant and unique challenges. Successful navigation of these challenges...more
3/21/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Interruption ,
business-int ,
Class Action ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
D&O Insurance ,
Failure To Warn ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Impracticability ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Claims ,
Manufacturers ,
Mergers ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain
On Friday, March 13, 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R.6201 titled the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”). And on Monday, March 16, 2020, the House made corrections to the Act. As...more
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc on markets and industries in the U.S. and around the world, businesses are now confronting significant and unique challenges. Successful navigation of these challenges...more
Coronavirus, whose formal name is COVID-19, has been the subject of much media attention since the first outbreak in Wuhan, China, late last year. Just like recent outbreaks of the swine flu, the avian flu, SARS and the West...more
2/25/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Traveling Employee ,
Workplace Safety