On August 8, 2020, the president signed several executive memoranda and an order addressing the continued economic havoc of the COVID-19 pandemic, two of which are of direct interest to employers....more
8/11/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
Executive Orders ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Moratorium ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Relief Measures ,
Social Security ,
Student Loans ,
Tax Deferral ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Benefits
On July 27, 2020, Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate unveiled its latest legislative response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act. The bill represents...more
During a pandemic, protests, and a polarized election season, employers have walked an ever-increasingly fine line between protecting employee speech in the workplace and enforcing rules on workplace conduct....more
7/23/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Title VII ,
Unions
On July 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued additional guidance on return-to-work issues under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Enacted at the end of March, the FFCRA provides emergency paid...more
The federal government recently released its unified federal regulatory agenda–the document that outlines regulatory and deregulatory actions agencies expect to take in coming months....more
7/8/2020
/ Affirmative Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
Previously, we discussed the increasing number of lawsuits filed against employers relating to COVID-19, and how these numbers are expected to swell. Perhaps recognizing the economic ruin that could befall employers facing...more
7/4/2020
/ Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Customers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Good Faith ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Limited Liability Act ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Vendors ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
On June 26, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) provided guidance for its Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Investigators relating to when employees may be eligible to take paid family leave under the Families First...more
6/30/2020
/ Child Care ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Event Cancellation ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Summer Camps ,
Wage and Hour
As the United States continues to struggle with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, safety, and the economy, it is likely that many employers will have yet another issue to face as they attempt to...more
As the nation continues the gradual reopening of workplaces and the economy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its guidance to provide information to employers regarding their...more
6/20/2020
/ ADEA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
High Risk Covid Employees ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Title VII ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court published its opinion resolving three cases, Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., Bostock v. Clayton County, and EEOC v. R.G. &. G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. The question before the...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
A new executive order directs federal agencies to focus their efforts on regulatory barriers to economic recovery. Specifically, the May 19, 2020 order directs agencies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic public health...more
On May 15, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6800, the “Heath and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions” or “HEROES” Act....more
In addition to numerous provisions expanding paid leave and unemployment benefits, the newly introduced Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act would create a program enabling employers to...more
On May 12, 2020, the Democratic leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled its opening bid in the next round of COVID-19 response legislation. ...more
5/14/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Trump Administration
In a series of guidance issued since May 5, 2020 (some of which was withdrawn, revised, and reissued), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) addressed protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act...more
On May 7, 2020, the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it will not collect Form EEO-1 workplace demographic data for calendar year 2019 this year....more
5/11/2020
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
The wave of COVID-19 litigation is not coming; it has arrived. Even before most states open back up for business, plaintiff’s lawyers are suing employers for a variety of alleged violations related to the virus, including...more
Ahead of a second round of lending, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that businesses applying for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) must consider other sources of liquidity before certifying...more
The Department of Labor has clarified that gig workers qualify as “unemployed” under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program when they lose a significant amount of business because of COVID-19. ...more
Senate lawmakers agreed on April 21, 2020, to inject cash into the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a mechanism for offering forgivable loans to small businesses. Lawmakers also agreed to allocate more money for disaster...more
The CARES Act included a variety of new provisions to help employers and workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those provisions were two aimed at student-loan repayment. ...more
On April 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance to employers in the package delivery industry intended to assist them in reducing the risk of their...more
On Saturday, April 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Unemployment Insurance Guidance Letter 15-20 (UIPL 15-20) to provide further guidance to the states on the temporary expanded unemployment insurance...more
On April 1, 2020, the day the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) took effect, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released temporary regulations interpreting this new law that requires private employers...more
On March 31, 2020, the IRS published new guidance clarifying how employers can claim tax credits for giving employees paid leave and maintaining their payrolls during the COVID-19 crisis. The agency explained that employers...more