More Of The Great Loosening. Joe Biden surprised — and irked — many of his constituents when he announced during a 60 Minutes interview that the pandemic is essentially over. The World Health Organization would disagree on...more
A New Year Brings New Hope, And A Little Vaccine Clarity. Below is a brief discussion of where the various vaccine mandates stand in the courts. But this space is intended to provide a broader update on all of the various...more
Build Back…Sometime? Despite Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s repeated assurances that the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) would pass the Senate before the holidays, many Democratic Senators have now conceded that BBBA...more
On Friday, November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit extended its initial stay regarding OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The Fifth Circuit made clear how...more
OSHA: From The Back Page To The Headlines. If asked in January of 2020 what exactly OSHA is and what it does within the Department of Labor, we would venture that the majority of PMN readers would not have a completely...more
One Small Step For Infrastructure: Senate Passes Bipartisan Package, But The Next Leaps Will Be Laborious. Finally, after months of inter- and intra-party wrangling, the Senate voted 69-30 — including a notable aye vote from...more
The Great Loosening: Easing of Coronavirus Restrictions Across The Union. Since Joe Biden’s election, this space has discussed the great expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as the great undoing of a number...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Headlining the number of employment-related bills California legislators introduced by the February 19th deadline are those that would extend COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave and provide other leaves...more
3/8/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sick Leave ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
This Space – For Now – Will Continue To Summarize Congress’ COVID-19 Stimulus Attempts. To that end, before he was sworn in by the Chief Justice, President Biden released the contours of a $1.9 Trillion legislative package...more
Oh Happy Day! Stimulus Is Finally (Almost) Live. The House and Senate are scheduled to vote on a $900 billion pandemic relief package along with a $1.4 trillion measure to fund the government through September 30, 2021. ...more
12/22/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FRCP 30(b)(6) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Relief Measures ,
Vaccinations
The NLRB Will Look, And Act, Much Differently Under A Biden Administration. Joe Biden has reiterated, again and again, that supporting organized labor will sit atop his agenda. The board is currently operating with a vacant...more
12/8/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Workplace Safety
Stimulus, Vaccines, and Corona. OH MY!
First, The Stimulus. The status of additional stimulus remains where it has been as we have been tracking it for months, ever since the House passed the HEROES Act: nowhere. While the...more
11/23/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gig Economy ,
H-1B ,
Immigration Reform ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infections ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
Lyft ,
Moderna Inc. ,
Pfizer ,
Public Charge ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Title III ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Vaccinations
This special post-election report is brought to you by Seyfarth's Policy Matters Newsletter. With so much at stake, we have collected the top-of-mind issues to watch as the election results take shape. ...more
11/6/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DACA ,
Donald Trump ,
Federal Employment Agencies ,
General Elections ,
Immigration Reform ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Joe Biden ,
Members of Congress ,
Policy Drafting ,
Political Campaigns ,
Popular ,
Presidential Elections ,
Vaccinations
The Saga Of The Stimulus Deal Continues. As readers of this newsletter are well aware, the negotiations over additional stimulus legislation to confront COVID-19, and all of its attendant consequences, has seen a number of...more
10/23/2020
/ Bias ,
Border Security ,
Canada ,
CARES Act ,
Conciliation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Stimulus ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Reform ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Request For Information ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Trump Administration
A Tribute To The Late, Incomparably Great, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Exactly two weeks to the day, the Country began collective mourning over the loss of one of the greatest jurisprudential minds in a century. Justice...more
10/5/2020
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dukes v Wal-Mart ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gig Economy ,
Government Shutdown ,
Governor Newsom ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Leave ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Ruth Bader Ginsberg ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Vance v. Ball State University ,
Visas ,
Women in the Law
Seyfarth Synopsis: September 30 was Governor Newsom’s last day to sign or veto bills the Legislature passed by its August 31 deadline. Some new laws—including COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave and workers’ compensation...more
10/2/2020
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Governor Newsom ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Code ,
New Legislation ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Safety
Despite A Series Of Disappointments, Stimulus Negotiations Remain In The News. As readers of the newsletter are well aware, this specific topic has consumed an inordinate amount of white space. ...more
9/22/2020
/ Black Lives Matter ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EEO-1 ,
Executive Orders ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Form I-9 ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Relief Measures ,
Social Security Taxes ,
Student Loans ,
Tax Deferral ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Benefits
Over the weekend, Congressman Jeremy Raskin (D-MD), appeared on NBC News to introduce H.R. 6525, the Reopen America Act of 2020. Congressman Raskin’s office released an attendant press release stating that the measure is...more
4/20/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Guidance Update ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Remote Working ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On April 16, 2020, the Trump Administration issued Guidelines entitled “Opening Up America Again” to help ease the Nation’s economy into reactivity and recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. ...more
4/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Remote Working ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Virus Testing ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Death