On March 18, 2020, New York enacted a law which would require employers to provide certain sick leave benefits to employees who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary quarantine or isolation issued by any governmental...more
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on March 20, 2020 that it will allow for flexibility in the completion of the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) for employers working remotely due to COVID-19...more
President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) (FFCRA or Act) on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. As reported in prior alerts, the enacted federal legislation provides paid sick leave and...more
Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that an employee who was fired after revealing that he used medical marijuana outside of work to treat his cancer has a basis to sue for disability discrimination under the New...more
3/18/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Off-Duty Employees
Late Monday, March 16, 2020, the House of Representatives approved several last-minute changes to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), which was originally passed by the House on March 14, 2020. These...more
With businesses closing their doors and sending workers home, the House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (HR 6201) to address the severe impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on Americans’...more
3/16/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Wage and Hour
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently designated Coronavirus (COVID-19) as a global pandemic. Leaders in the international health community are taking action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and contain the outbreak....more
3/13/2020
/ Attendance ,
Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Travel ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Leave ,
Military Leave ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
With the number of coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases on the rise, employers are preparing to address a host of workplace issues, ranging from exposure risks to absenteeism to disability or national origin discrimination. Now is...more
3/9/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
General Duty Clause ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
Telecommuting ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Employers seeking to employ H-1B workers must register with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by March 20, 2020, to be eligible for the FY 2021 H-1B lottery. ...more
2/14/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Job Applicants ,
Lottery ,
Registration Fees ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
USCIS ,
Visas
In advance of their first official meeting of 2020, members of Philadelphia City Council outlined their legislative priorities, and several say they intend to introduce legislation to increase protections for employees....more
1/23/2020
/ City Councils ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Employees ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Health Insurance ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Pregnancy ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
Continuing its shift toward more employer-friendly workplace decisions, the National Labor Relations Board (Board or NLRB) in Valley Hospital Medical Center held that employers may cease deducting union dues from employees’...more
12/18/2019
/ Bethlehem Steel ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Dues Checkoff ,
Employee Contributions ,
Expiration Date ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Union Dues ,
Unions
On November 22nd, the CFPB issued a press release announcing that a stipulated final judgment and order (Order) were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Sterling Infosystems, Inc....more
The Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice seeking comment on proposed revisions to its Wage and Hour Division’s optional-use forms that employers often use to implement the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)....more
Following hearings this past spring, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, released a statement that the Committee finds more work is needed to improve diversity at megabanks. ...more
Philadelphia’s journey toward a $15-an-hour minimum wage began last week, part of an increasingly common trend in major U.S. cities. Minimum wage in the City of Philadelphia is $13.25 an hour as of July 1. Additionally,...more
In yet another example of the strong federal policy favoring arbitration embodied in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), U.S. District Court Judge Joel Slomsky of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted employer FC...more
In an important ruling that further narrows the circumstances in which class arbitration will be permitted, the Supreme Court today held that under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)...more
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (W&H Division) recently issued a new Opinion Letter on an issue that has long-plagued employers under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)—namely, whether an employer...more
One of the first actions taken by Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters upon becoming Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee was to announce the creation of a new Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)....more
Want to hire a skilled foreign worker? Don't delay, act now!
The H-1B visa allows companies in the United States to temporarily hire foreign workers in occupations requiring the theoretical and practical application of a...more
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed two bills last week that provide affected employees in the city with more scheduling certainty and higher wages....more
Philadelphia City Council voted 14-3 today to pass the "Fair Workweek Employment Standards Ordinance," instituting scheduling and predictability pay requirements for employers in the retail, food services, and hospitality...more
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on August 23, 2018, released for public comment a series of electronic draft materials and guidance as a follow-up to the State's sexual harassment law passed in April 2018. The public comment...more
8/28/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Internal Investigations ,
Internal Reporting ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Starting March 18, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will require individuals who are submitting an application, petition, request, or other documents to provide a "valid" signature on forms filed with the...more
3/15/2018
/ Fraud and Abuse ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Manufacturers ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Power of Attorney ,
Retail Workers ,
Signatures ,
USCIS ,
Visas
In a unanimous ruling on February 21, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the definition of a whistleblower under the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act)....more
3/1/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers