On July 31, 2024, CMS issued a final rule (the Final Rule) for fiscal year (FY) 2025 updating Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) under the SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS). Under the...more
Environmental justice is the meaningful and fair involvement of all people in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental policies, regulations, and laws. Community Benefit Agreements, can facilitate...more
Cleveland City Council passed Emergency Ordinance 297-2023 (the Ordinance), described as community benefits agreement (CBA) legislation on Monday, June 5th. The Ordinance focuses on improving construction contract work...more
One of the most noteworthy features of the October 18th Final Sale Notice (FSN) for the PACW-1 offshore lease auction – which will be the first west coast auction held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) – is the...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) has weighed in on several COVID-19-related issues under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The GC’s opinions are contained in Advice Memoranda that...more
As construction continues and resumes during the COVID-19 pandemic, unionized construction employers must be mindful of the terms of their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) when implementing workplace responses to...more
As more companies file for Chapter 11 amid the pandemic, expect to see more filings focus on reducing labor, legacy and environmental costs as key to a successful reorganization. This theme will come from debtor management...more
Employers who plan to resume business operations and return employees to the physical workplace after the relaxation of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders must consider how to best balance the reopening of their businesses with the...more
Collective bargaining agreements, including those that establish ERISA plans, should be interpreted according to ordinary principles of contract law, the U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed in a per curiam opinion. CNH...more
On November 24, 2015, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that the “predominant benefit” test should be applied when determining whether mealtime breaks constitute compensable time under the Fair Labor...more
On Sept. 25, 2015, the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (Central States), submitted to the Department of the Treasury a plan for reducing benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014...more
During their press conference on September 15, 2015, UAW President Dennis Williams and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne appeared satisfied with the tentative agreement reached after months of bargaining. The two friends...more
The Third Circuit held that where an employer has been party to multiple collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) with a multiemployer fund, an employer’s withdrawal liability should be based on “the single highest...more
While some people may have been on vacation at the end of August, the past few weeks have been extremely busy at the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”), with a series of decisions that will continue to make it...more
On August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board, in Lincoln Lutheran of Racine, 362 NLRB No. 188, overturned 53 years of precedent, holding that, like most other terms and conditions of employment, an employer’s...more
With a few key strokes, the NLRB yesterday, in a 3-2 decision down party lines, wiped away years of precedent and re-wrote, or, in its words “refined,” the definition of a joint employer. In a ruling that will, if upheld...more
New Jersey’s Public Employee Relations Commission (“PERC” or the “Commission”) has weighed in on the issues of (1) when health insurance contributions become negotiable once the fourth tier of contributions under Chapter 78...more
The Third Circuit affirmed an arbitration award under the Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”) as the decision reached by the arbitrator comported with the collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) between the parties....more
On July 9, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2015-49 to announce it intends to prohibit retirees who are receiving annuity payments from a defined benefit pension plan from electing a lump sum in lieu of the...more
In recent years, manufacturers have closed facilities, corporate offices, warehouses, and production plants, for a variety of reasons. All too often, manufacturers overlook important legal requirements or planning steps,...more
Although no one reading this article would disagree with the premise that employers cannot and should not tolerate bigotry from anyone in their workforce, the NLRB apparently thinks otherwise. In a troubling decision handed...more
We previously blogged about the NLRB’s relatively shocking September 2012 decision in Finley Hospital (359 NLRB No. 9), in which the Board held that an employer was required to continue providing wage increases after the...more
On June 12, 2015, Oregon became the fourth state in the country to pass a statewide mandatory sick leave bill. Provided it is signed by Governor Kate Brown (which is virtually certain), the new law will require all Oregon...more
In a unanimous decision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction arising out of an airline's alleged violation of the status quo provisions of the Railway Labor...more
Airlines achieved a major victory on May 19, 2015, with an order from the Central District of California granting Southwest Airlines Co.'s motion to dismiss in McKinley v. Southwest Airlines Co., United States District Court,...more