On January 27, 2025, President Donald Trump made sweeping and unprecedented changes to both the EEOC and NLRB, firing two of the three Democratic members of the EEOC, Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows, and...more
On his first two days in office, President Trump issued a handful of executive orders aimed at eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies within the federal government and encouraged the private...more
1/30/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OMB ,
Trump Administration
In its September 13, 2024 decision in Bodge et al. v. Commonwealth et al., SJC-13567 (2024), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled that an employer’s policy of denying the accrual of certain benefits to...more
9/19/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Medical Leave ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On April 29, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace (the “Guidance”). The Guidance sets forth the EEOC’s position on harassment that constitutes...more
5/7/2024
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Harassment ,
New Guidance ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Teleconferences ,
Title VII
On August 2, 2023, the NLRB issued a decision in Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023) which adopts a new legal standard for evaluating whether employer workplace policies violate the NLRA. The decision supplants a more...more
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed two bills into law aimed at enhancing protections for pregnant and nursing parents in the workplace: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal...more
On July 26, 2022, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (“CROWN”) Act. Among other things, the law prohibits discrimination based on “traits...more
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the “Act”) into law. The Act amends the Federal Arbitration Act to prohibit employers from mandating...more
On August 23, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Hovagimian v. Concert Blue Hill, LLC, that the Massachusetts Tips Act requires that an employer pay service employees any “service charge” listed on an...more
On May 17, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its COVID-19 guidance to employers, instructing employers to refer to recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for...more
5/19/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On May 5, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act into law, which will require New York State employers to implement workplace health and safety standards to protect their...more
5/12/2021
/ Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Failure to Comply ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Mandatory Requirements ,
New York ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Workplace Safety
On March 12, 2021, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation granting public and private employees paid time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The new law immediately requires all New York State...more
On December 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued guidance for employers regarding the intersection of employer COVID-19 vaccine policies and various federal equal employment opportunity...more
12/21/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Responding to a recent New York federal court decision invalidating certain of its regulations interpreting the paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)...more
9/22/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Furloughs ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Layoffs ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Leave ,
Work Availability Requirement
New Ruling Makes It Easier for Employers to Introduce Workplace Changes During Term of Collective Bargaining Agreement -
On September 10, 2019, in MV Transportation, Inc., Case No. 28-CA-173726, the National Labor...more