Employers with fewer than 50 employees may claim an exemption from the emergency paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and the exemption applies specifically to leave taken for reasons of child care and school closures related to COVID-19, according to a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) guidance updated March 28.…

Read More

Social media contact lists have become an increasingly important part of a business’s customer lists. While courts are still grappling with who legally “owns” the data that the employee acquired on the employer’s dime—such as LinkedIn customer connections or access to a list of Twitter-feed recipients—employers can still take steps to bolster the company’s claim of…

Read More

Employers are grappling with employee benefit issues in response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”). Efforts are being made to pave the way for widespread testing by eliminating cost barriers such as deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, or High Deductible Health Plan restrictions to ensure employees and their families are proactively being diagnosed once symptoms present, to…

Read More

Every now and again, we’re asked questions regarding Indiana laws regarding employee terminations. Here is an earlier post that should answer those questions…………. Discipline and termination State procedures Are there state-specific laws on the procedures employers must follow with regard to discipline and grievance procedures? None for private sector employers. At-will or notice At-will status…

Read More

By March 2, 2020, employers must submit their Form 300A information through OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA). Form 300A is the second page of the OSHA Form 300 and serves as a summary of all recordable work-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2019. OSHA defines a recordable injury or illness as follows: Any work-related fatality.…

Read More

Since the National Labor Relations Board issued the precedent-changing Boeing Company decision in late 2017, the Board has continuously illustrated when employment policies will survive scrutiny under the National Labor Relations Act. Recently, in Argos USA LLC, the Board clarified its position about three common types of employment agreements or policies, i.e., those concerning confidentiality,…

Read More

Companies doing business with the federal government must comply with a litany of complex laws and regulations that affect their day-to-day business operations. To assist government contractors, this guide discusses some of the labor and employment laws and regulations that should be considered when pricing and performing a government contract. Given the complexities involved, employers…

Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the employer offered a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s religious need, even though he argued the transfer offer was not reasonable. In Horvath v. City of Leander, a firefighter sought an exemption from the required TDAP vaccine on religious grounds. The city offered him two accommodations…

Read More