As of November 7, 2023, Ohio became the 24th state to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana. Ohio voters passed Issue 2, also known as An Act to Control and Regulate Adult Use of Cannabis (the “Act”), by a 57% to 43% margin, and the Act is set to take effect on December 7, 2023. … Continue Reading
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will soon require federal contractors to use a Contractor Portal to register and certify that they have their required Affirmative Action Programs (AAP) in place. The portal launched February 1, 2022. Registration began on February 15 and certification began on March 31.… Continue Reading
On June 10, 2021 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released long-awaited updated guidance on what actions employers should take to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in light of an increasingly vaccinated population. The guidance supplements, and does not replace or diminish, any applicable state or local orders. Note also that OSHA released on … Continue Reading
As we blogged about here, the CDC announced on May 13, 2021 that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear a mask or practice social distancing except in certain circumstances, including when state or local orders still require compliance with these COVID-19 mitigation measures. As a result, a number of state and local health … Continue Reading
As most everyone now knows, among other things, the massive $2 trillion-plus CARES Act created multiple federal unemployment compensation programs for individuals impacted by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). These programs provide federal funding to the states to administer and provide unemployment compensation assistance to a broad range of COVID-19-impacted employees including, notably, those who … Continue Reading
As we have previously reported here, companies with at least 100 employees must collect and report 2017 and 2018 employee pay data information, broken down by race/ethnicity, sex, and job category (“Component 2 data”) as part of their annual EEO-1 report. This Component 2 data remains due to be filed with the EEOC by September … Continue Reading
As we have reported previously (here, here, here and here), sweeping changes to employer obligations under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) EEO-1 reporting requirements are under way. By September 30, 2019, employers must report 2017 and 2018 pay data for their workforce (referred to as “Component 2” data), broken down by race/ethnicity and sex. … Continue Reading
Riding on the 2018 wave of workplace sexual harassment legislation, on June 19, 2019, the New York state assembly and senate voted to toughen the state’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment law (S. 6577/A. 8421 and related amendment S. 6594/A. 8424). Governor Cuomo, a proponent of the bill, is expected to sign the bill into law. … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, June 18, 2018, The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its long-anticipated final rule on association health plans, allowing small businesses to band together by geography or industry to create health plans as if they were a single large employer. Association health plans will not be subject to the Affordable Care Act’s essential … Continue Reading
On May 10, 2018, the 6th Circuit vacated the District Court for the Western District of Kentucky’s 2013 decision in “Clemons v. Norton Healthcare Inc. Retirement Plan”, No. 16-5124 (6th Cir. 2018). The District Court had granted summary judgment in favor of a class of former Norton Healthcare workers who chose to retire early and … Continue Reading
On November 29, 2017, The Department of Labor delayed through April 1, 2018, the applicability of a Final Rule amending the claims procedure requirements applicable to ERISA-covered employee benefit plans that provide disability benefits. The purpose of the Final Rule was to add procedural protections and safeguards similar to those applicable to group health plans … Continue Reading
On March 1, 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled on the scope of ERISA preemption as it relates to reporting requirements. In Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. [pdf], the High Court held that ERISA preempts a Vermont statute regulating plan reporting requirements. The Vermont law addressed in Gobeille required disclosure of payments related … Continue Reading
As promised in our previous post, today we conclude our predictions on President Obama’s 2016 executive activity. While we believe the President’s final executive orders will target immigration and perhaps even corporate political expenditures, we predict executive agency action will cover a broad range of pressing labor and employment issues. With federal legislative gridlock expected … Continue Reading
Federal legislation in 2015 was plagued by the same congressional gridlock that President Obama has faced throughout most of his presidency. The President has therefore turned to executive action to achieve many of his goals over the past seven years and we expect this trend to continue with gusto in 2016. Below is a summary … Continue Reading
As we covered in a prior blogpost in May 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law an expansion of the New York City Human Rights Law impacting how employers may use credit checks. The “Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act,” which became effective on September 3, 2015 (the “Act”), makes it … Continue Reading
On the anniversary of two other decisions supporting same-sex rights (Lawrence [pdf] and Windsor [pdf]), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday, June 26 that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right nationwide. The Court held the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution requires a state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to recognize same-sex … Continue Reading
On June 15, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed an appeals court decision ruling that employers can lawfully fire employees for use of medical marijuana. Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical marijuana user and Colorado resident, sued his employer (Dish Network) for wrongful discharge after it fired him for testing positive for marijuana during a random … Continue Reading
On March 16, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals – which has jurisdiction over appeals from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming – drove home that when it comes to jury instructions, the devil is in the details. Reasoning that a lower court jury “might have relied on the erroneous direct-threat standard,” the … Continue Reading
The EEOC has pushed hard in recent years to curb employer use of background checks in hiring decisions (see our blog post here). In 2009, the EEOC filed suit against Freeman, a national provider of integrated services, alleging that Freeman relied on credit and criminal background checks that caused a disparate impact on black and … Continue Reading
Last week, the Delaware Chancery Court in Ascension Insurance Holdings, LLC v. Underwood refused to grant injunctive relief to a Delaware company seeking to enforce a non-compete agreement against a California resident. In that case, Mr. Underwood, a California resident, participated in a sale of business assets and their associated goodwill to the Delaware company. … Continue Reading
On February 2, 2015, President Obama released his proposal for the FY 2016 budget. In it he requests across the board funding increases for the Department of Labor (10.9% increase from FY 2015), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2.3% increase from FY 2015), and the National Labor Relations Board (1.4% increase from FY 2015). Considering the disparity between … Continue Reading
