Failing a drug test may not kill the buzz for medical marijuana patients in the Empire State. In contrast to courts in California and other jurisdictions, a New York state court has held that medical marijuana users are...more
5/14/2020
/ Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
NYCHRL ,
Protected Class ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
Welcome to #WorkforceWednesday. Here’s the week’s top workforce management and employment law news:
The COVID-19 Labor Market Imbalance (video below)
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a sudden imbalance in the labor market....more
4/22/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Furloughs ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Layoffs ,
OSHA ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Shared Work Program ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Workplace Safety
On April 10, 2020, the District of Columbia enacted the COVID-19 Response Supplemental Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-286) (the “Emergency Act”). ...more
On April 11, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed nearly two dozen bills into law, many of which will have a significant impact on employers, employees, and the broader Virginia workforce. The Virginia Values Act...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has again updated its compliance assistance for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), in the form of “Questions and Answers.” This post summarizes the most recent Questions and...more
On April 1, 2020, the day that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or “Act”) became effective, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a temporary rule (“TR”) concerning the...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) continues to update its compliance assistance for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), in the form of “Questions and Answers.” ...more
On March 24, 2020, the Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued initial guidance (“Guidance”) on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or the “Act”), which we detailed in a...more
Notwithstanding numerous restrictions limiting access to many resources during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, marijuana users in states where medicinal and adult use is legal may still have access to cannabinoid...more
On March 17, 2020, the District of Columbia passed the COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which extends additional benefits under the District’s unemployment insurance (“UI”) law and the D.C....more
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the 2019 novel coronavirus (known as “COVID-19”) is now a pandemic. The effects continue to be felt in the United States, which currently has well over 1,000...more
3/17/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Contingency Plans ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Immigrants ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health ,
Screening Procedures ,
Sick Leave ,
Travel Ban ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 is now a pandemic. The effects continue to be felt in the United States, which now has well over 1,000 confirmed novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)...more
3/16/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Supplies ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Strategic Planning ,
Threat Management ,
Trump Administration ,
Workplace Safety
First of Many Anticipated Employment Changes in Virginia, Including Expanded Coverage and Remedies for the Virginia Human Right Act and Minimum Wage Increases....more
3/11/2020
/ Dress Codes ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Gig Economy ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Delaware is reminding its employers that a safe, drug-free workplace can pay. On February 1, the state’s Department of Insurance (the “Department”) amended its regulations to emphasize the availability of workers’...more
2/28/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Credit ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employment Policies ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Regulations ,
Recreational Use ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
We have written extensively on mandatory vaccination policies and employers’ obligations to accommodate requests for exemption based on religious or disability grounds. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a recent...more
By February 1, 2020, District of Columbia (“DC”) employers must start providing employees with notice of the DC Paid Family Leave (“DC PFL”) law, D.C. Code § 32-541.01, et seq. The DC PFL Notice to Employees (“PFL Notice”)...more
1/17/2020
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Final Rules ,
Medical Leave ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour
As we have previously blogged, use of third-party digital hiring platforms to select job applicants using video interviews can present an array of potential legal issues. A recent Complaint filed with the Federal Trade...more
1/9/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Decision-Making Process ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Due Diligence ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Entrance Interviews ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Race Discrimination ,
Racial Bias ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Section 5 ,
Software ,
Technology ,
Video Recordings
With 2019 nearly rolled up, it is time to exhale and recap the latest dose of marijuana laws affecting the workplace. In the last twelve months, Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana use by...more
12/24/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recreational Use ,
State and Local Government
Increasingly, companies are using third-party digital hiring platforms to recruit and select job applicants. These products, explicitly or implicitly, promise to reduce or eliminate the bias of hiring managers in making...more
10/17/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Data Collection ,
Data Retention ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Pritzker ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interviews ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recruitment Policies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Videoconference
As summer winds down, the challenges impacting health care employers in 2019 continue to heat up. These challenges include ongoing developments regarding marijuana legalization, employee resistance to vaccination mandates,...more
8/30/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Individual Mandate ,
Marijuana ,
OSHA ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
On July 2, 2019, New Jersey joined Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York City, and Oklahoma in enacting employment protections for authorized users of medical cannabis. New Jersey’s new medical cannabis law (“Law”), which...more
7/11/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Amended Legislation ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Governor Murphy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws
The District of Columbia Office of Paid Family Leave (“OPFL”) recently launched a website to help employers and employees prepare for the new Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) benefit. On July 1, 2019, the OPFL will begin collecting...more
In this Thought Leaders in Health Law video, attorneys Paulina Grabczak, Gail Javitt, Yulian Shtern, and Nathaniel Glasser take a holistic look at the risks companies face as the restrictions on the use of medical and...more
On April 9, 2019, a proposed bill, Int. 1445-A (“Bill”), which prohibits employers from pre-employment drug testing for marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols (“THC,” the active ingredient in marijuana), was passed by the New...more
4/17/2019
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drug Testing ,
Drug-Free Workplace Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Marijuana ,
Mayor de Blasio ,
OSHA
In a decision that could have sweeping effects on New Jersey employers with drug-free workplace and drug-testing policies, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings ruled that the New Jersey Law...more