The past year saw many significant developments in the area of labor and employment law at all levels of government. Simply by way of example, new legislation imposed additional obligations on employers that operate in New Jersey and New York; federal Courts of Appeals “clarified” standards applicable to workplace discrimination claims; and under the Trump … Continue Reading
A provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Tax Act will increase the “after-tax cost” for companies to settle “sexual harassment” or “sexual abuse” claims if they wish to maintain a “nondisclosure agreement” of the details. The law will disallow a business deduction for the amounts paid to settle such claims (including attorneys’ fees) if … Continue Reading
On Jan. 9, 2017, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed Executive Order 162, which requires state contracts and procurements entered into or issued as of June 1, 2017, to include new reporting obligations for contractors, subcontractors, and bidders. Employers seeking to contract with the State will be required to disclose, on at least a … Continue Reading
On Nov. 8, 2016, Massachusetts voters passed Question 4, which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana (Recreational Use Law). The Recreational Use Law follows passage of a 2012 Massachusetts ballot question which legalized the medicinal use of marijuana. Please see our previous May 15, 2013 GT Alert, What Does the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Act Mean … Continue Reading
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) into law. The DTSA is immediately effective, and applies to misappropriation that occurs after its enactment. The DTSA is the most significant expansion of intellectual property law since the Lanham Act was passed in the 1940s. The DTSA largely tracks the Uniform … Continue Reading
Jim Boudreau, shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, was recently quoted in two articles in Bloomberg BNA’s Labor and Employment Blog series discussing issues relating to Article III in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) class and collective actions. Jim also discussed the federal courts’ reaction to Campbell-Ewald and the potential for due process issues that may arise … Continue Reading
Hey employer, remember that workplace injury that you reported to OSHA a few months ago? You remember, right? The one where after you gave OSHA information about the workplace injury, like the root cause of the incident, and a few days later OSHA informed you that it considered the matter “closed.” Well guess what? OSHA … Continue Reading
Some important Supreme Court cases are hard to accurately capture in a sound bite, and this is one of them. In a narrow holding, the Supreme Court issued a 6-2 decision in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 577 U.S. ___ (2016), addressing class claims for overtime compensation certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 … Continue Reading
Recent Surge of FCRA Employment Lawsuits The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires employers to take important compliance steps before obtaining and using consumer reports to make employment-related decisions such as hiring, promotion, and termination. Consumer reports include, but are not limited to, criminal records, motor vehicle reports, credit checks, reference checks, education verification, employment … Continue Reading
On Monday, Sept. 7, 2015, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order (the “Order”) that requires federal contractors to grant at least seven days of annual paid sick leave to their employees. The Order gives an estimated 300,000 federal contractors new access to paid sick leave. Under the Order, employees of federal contractors will earn … Continue Reading
Two Executive Orders have been recently issued requiring federal government contractors to adopt practices ensuring the fair treatment of certain classes of workers. A new GT Alert, authored by Johnine P. Barnes, Ryan C. Bradel and Józef S. Przygrodzki, discuss the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order,” which makes a contractor’s compliance with certain … Continue Reading
