On July 1, 2024, Florida, Oregon, and Texas will join California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia by adding privacy laws governing the collection, use, and transfer of consumer personal data. Montana will follow...more
With the November 7 passage of Issue 2, effective December 7, 2023, Ohioans will be able to purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and grow marijuana plants in their home. Ohio is the 24th state to allow...more
On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) became law and requires covered employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to a worker’s known limitations that are related to pregnancy, childbirth,...more
6/28/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employees ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
As the intersection of technology and healthcare becomes increasingly nuanced, the field of genomic medicine is rapidly evolving and expanding. Genomic medicine, or personalized medicine focusing on the data holding...more
In the McLaren Macomb opinion issued last month, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) landed a healthy punch chipping away at what had previously been considered standard severance provisions in...more
3/29/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements
On December 7, 2022, Congress passed the “Speak Out Act” (the “Act”), which codified into federal law limits on what types of information employers are allowed to include in nondisclosure or non-disparagement clauses....more
There is a lot to unpack in the Lehenky v. Toshiba America Energy Systems Corporation, Case No. 20-4573 (E.D. PA, February 22, 2022) case as it answers two very interesting questions. First, does CBD register on a drug screen...more
With Season 4 of Yellowstone in the books, and having time to fully process the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s OSHA vaccine mandate decisions, we thought we would kick off the 2022 All Things HR Blog by taking a deeper...more
On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court (“Court”) issued two critical decisions: one staying the OSHA ETS vaccine or test mandate, the second allowing the OSHA CMS vaccine mandate for healthcare facilities to...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On December 17, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which was chosen via lottery as the federal appellate court to decide whether the OSHA ETS, i.e., the private employer vaccine mandate, would go...more
12/24/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Commerce Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Motion to Dissolve ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On Thursday, November 4, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) rolled out temporary emergency standards (“ETS”) implementing COVID-19...more
The entire country has been abuzz about President Biden’s Plan for “Vaccinating the Unvaccinated.” The Plan would require private employers with 100 or more employees (“Covered Employers”) to ensure their workers are...more
With the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine obtaining full FDA approval and President Biden’s sweeping announcement that he will be requiring federal employees, employers with over 100 employees, and many others to require vaccines or...more
It all began when the Union Pacific Railroad told employee Perry Hopman, a combat veteran, on two separate occasions that he could not allow his service dog – a 125-pound Rottweiler named Atlas – to accompany him to work to...more
The U.S. Bankruptcy Code (the “Code”) § 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(1) provides that when a party files for bankruptcy, an automatic stay is triggered. However, it turns out that there are limitations to the type of cases that these...more
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provides $1.9 trillion dollars in economic stimulus for individuals, certain companies, and municipalities. This blog focuses specifically on what the ARP means for employers....more
4/5/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EFMLA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Paid Leave ,
Pensions ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed the employer-friendly Employment Law Uniformity Act (HB 352) (the Act) into law. The law, which will go into effect on April 12, 2021, will apply to all future discrimination claims filed...more
Given the huge uptick in telemedicine as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance (Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-8) that makes it clear to employers that an employee’s telehealth...more
There were rumors that with the new stimulus deal that Congress would extend FFCRA leave, but that turned out to be fake news. Upon reviewing House Speaker Pelosi’s press release discussing the stimulus deal it became clear...more
With the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine for mass consumption, we hypothesized in our piece titled “Can Employers Make Employees Get the COVID-19 Vaccine,” that employers would be able to require employees to get the vaccine...more
With two COVID-19 vaccines set to receive federal approval in the United States in the upcoming weeks, the next question is whether employers can make employees receive the vaccine....more
Over the years, there has been a lot of news stories about people traveling (or seeking to travel) with interesting animals. There was the incident involving a “beloved pet hamster” that was flushed down a toilet after Sprit...more
While the eyes of the nation were keenly focused on the Presidential race, California voters passed Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which will further reinforce and redefine the state’s California...more
Even though it happens every four-years, it still tends to dominate the media, culture, and watercooler. We are, of course, talking about the presidential election. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, but citizens have...more
On August 3, 2020, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it will resume issuing charge closure documents. The EEOC had suspended issuing charge closure documents on March 21, 2020...more