Employers in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania — including those who utilize independent contractors — must familiarize themselves with an unprecedented, comprehensive ordinance that recently took effect throughout much of the...more
Pennsylvania is joining the legislative bandwagon to limit noncompetition agreements for certain health care workers. In a purported effort to retain health care practitioners for the commonwealth and promote continuity of...more
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) has determined that investigations of alleged discrimination by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) are “noncriminal investigations,” and that associated records...more
New regulations that substantially expand protections against discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations and housing in Pennsylvania will take effect on Aug. 16, 2023.
On December 8, 2022, the...more
It’s not only the cost of eggs that is increasing. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published in the Federal Register the annual increases in civil money penalties required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation...more
The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) is now in effect, requiring nearly all employers to provide break time and a private, non-bathroom space for lactating employees to pump and store...more
In a broad and sweeping exercise of regulatory power, on January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to prohibit employers from utilizing non-compete clauses. The...more
Using the regulatory process rather than legislation, Pennsylvania will substantially expand in 2023 protections against discrimination in employment, education, public accommodations and housing.
On December 8, 2022, the...more
OSHA has advised the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that it is withdrawing the emergency temporary standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees. Formal notice will be published in the Federal Register on January 26. ...more
The U.S. Supreme Court, by a 6-3 vote, issued a stay on January 13, 2022 that prevents the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from enforcing or implementing the COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) it had...more
A federal appeals court on Friday revived the sweeping vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but its fate remains unclear amid an immediate...more
UPDATED: On November 16, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit based in Cincinnati “won” the lottery. Here is the order. All pending cases challenging the ETS will be transferred to the 6th Circuit and a panel...more
As soon as the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021, litigants raced to the courthouse to file multiple challenges to the...more
The Biden administration has modified a September executive order (EO) to extend the vaccine mandate compliance deadline for federal contractors to January 4, 2022.
In a statement, the White House said the change was...more
Update – September 30, 2021: The Task Force issued a set of FAQs regarding the Guidance. Anticipating the upcoming release by OSHA of the ETS (see below), the FAQs make clear that covered contractors and subcontractors must...more
10/13/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joe Biden ,
OSHA ,
Religious Exemption ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
As part of a multipronged effort to attack the spread of COVID-19, President Joseph Biden issued an executive order (EO) on September 9, 2021 that ramps up safety protocols for federal contractors to include mandatory...more
9/13/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joe Biden ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
School boards and the governing bodies of community colleges and other public entities in Pennsylvania will soon be required to publish a detailed agenda at least 24 hours in advance of a public meeting that outlines the...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) revised its guidance on May 28, 2021 to provide more specific advice on employers’ use of incentives to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. The good news is that the use...more
6/1/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Incentives ,
Personal Information ,
Vaccinations
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has signed the Living Donor Protection Act, a law that will protect leave from work related to organ and tissue donation.
Set to take effect on June 26, 2021, the new law applies only to...more
For many employers, the costs related to the COVID-19 vaccine just went down.
On April 21, 2021, President Biden announced that employers with fewer than 500 employees – including tax exempt organizations – can claim a...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is an enormous and intricate piece of legislation that has direct consequence for employers.
Signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, ARPA mandates several important...more
3/16/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Hospitality Industry ,
IRS ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Paid Leave ,
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) ,
Pensions ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Self-Funded Health Plans ,
Tax Credits ,
Unemployment Benefits
On March 6, 2021, the Senate passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package known as the American Rescue Plan (ARP), including a $28.6 billion fund to assist restaurants. The relief package now heads back...more
3/9/2021
/ Bernie Sanders ,
Business Closures ,
Business Expenses ,
Business Interruption ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Grants ,
Joe Biden ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Veterans ,
Women-Owned Businesses
Philadelphia’s Wage Equity Ordinance, which was enacted in 2017, will finally start being enforced by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) on September 1, 2020. Following an unsuccessful judicial challenge,...more
Congress has breathed a third life into the Paycheck Protection Program – which appeared all but left for dead a scant week ago – and extended the availability of its potentially forgivable loans until August 8, 2020.
In...more
On June 17, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission weighed in on the question of whether an employer can mandate COVID-19 antibody tests for its employees.
The answer is “No.”
Antibody tests (also called...more