Information and guidance on every phase of employment
Q: Did the U.S. Supreme Court issue a ruling in the challenge to OSHA’s vaccine and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) and CMS interim final rule (IFR)?
A: Yes. On January 13, the Court granted the applications for stays of the OSHA ETS. Conversely, the Court granted the federal government’s request to overturn the injunctions that had halted the IFR. Continue Reading US Supreme Court Issues Rulings in Challenge to OSHA Vaccine and Testing ETS and CMS Interim Final Rule
Q. My company uses dash-cams to monitor driver conduct, but the company is not located in Illinois. Do I still have to comply with the Biometric Information Privacy Act?
A. Yes, as long as the company has drivers who are Illinois residents, you must comply with BIPA. The good news, however, is that as long as your company fully complies with the statute, it can continue to use telematics.
Q: Now that 2021 is behind us, what are the new California employment law changes for 2022?
A: While employers continued to grapple with the effects of COVID-19 on their businesses, last year’s California legislative actions led to relatively fewer employment law changes than usual for the upcoming 2022 year. Below find descriptions of new employment-related changes, including new rules for severance agreements, expanded limitations on confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions in settlement agreements, extended recordkeeping requirements, changes to the California Family Rights Act, arbitration, COVID-19 compliance, wage and hour, and industry-specific developments.
Q: Has New York City provided any additional details on the employer vaccination mandate?
A: As we previously discussed, effective December 27, all private employers in New York City will be required to implement a vaccine mandate for their employees. The policy must provide that all employees who work in-person in a workplace with other co-workers are required to have at least one dose by December 27.
Employers must complete an Affirmation of Compliance with Workplace Vaccination Requirements (available here) and post the completed affirmation in a public place. Continue Reading NYC Releases Guidance on December 27 Vaccination Mandate
Q: I heard New York City just announced an employer vaccination mandate. What do I need to know?
A: On December 6, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that effective December 27, all private employers in New York City will be required to implement a vaccine mandate for their employees. Employers will be required to implement a policy under which all employees who work in-person in a workplace with other co-workers are required to have at least one dose by December 27. Although many details have not yet been announced, based on Mayor de Blasio’s comments thus far, no alternate testing option is expected. The mandate is expected to affect approximately 184,000 businesses in New York City. Continue Reading NYC Implements Employer Vaccination Mandate Effective December 27
Q. What is the status of the Sixth Circuit’s consideration of the challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), and how does it impact the upcoming deadlines set by the ETS?
A. As discussed in our previous alert, on November 5, OSHA published an ETS that would require private employers with 100 or more employees to establish, by January 4, 2022 either (1) a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy; or (2) a vaccination policy that requires employees to either be fully vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work. The ETS would also require covered employers, by December 6, to: (1) determine the vaccination status of all employees; (2) provide leave for them to get vaccinated and recover from side effects of vaccination; and (3) ensure unvaccinated employees wear face coverings at work. Multiple challenges were filed over the ETS after OSHA’s issuance of the ETS, and, on November 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was selected by lottery to hear the consolidated challenges to OSHA’s recent ETS, including the Fifth Circuit’s extension of a nationwide stay of the ETS on November 12.
Q: Is proof of conspiracy required to state a claim that a no-poach agreement violated antitrust laws?
A: Many recent no-poach agreement antitrust claims have risen within the franchise context, where the alleged agreement was plainly described in the operative franchise agreements. In those cases, the parties fought over what standard of review should apply to the undisputed agreement. However, franchise cases are the exception not the norm. Many, if not most, Sherman Act Section 1 claims rise or fall on the plausibility of the allegations of an agreement, often oral, between the accused firms. Recently, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a factually threadbare no-poach antitrust claim. In Fonseca v. Hewlett-Packard Co.,[1] a former employee of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), who was fired by HP and not hired by one of HP’s competitors, alleged HP had entered into an illegal no-poach agreement with the competitor. Highlighting that no-poach antitrust cases require more than simply allegations of agreements and parallel conduct, the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s dismissal because the allegations of a conspiracy did not make sense and were not plausible. The decision serves as a poignant reminder that despite the class action bar’s and various government enforcement agencies’ (FTC, DOJ, and states attorneys general) stated desire to use the antitrust laws to protect employees’ wages and mobility, the law requires sufficient proof of a conspiracy to get beyond the pleadings stage of litigation. Continue Reading No-Poach Case Against HP Dismissed for Failure to Allege a Plausible Conspiracy
Q: What do employers need to know about recent state and local laws providing for protections for gig workers?
A: Employers and businesses are likely familiar with recent changes to rescind more employer-friendly, Trump-era FLSA regulations governing independent contractor classification and joint employment status, which we previously covered. However, employers may be less familiar with various new laws being passed or considered by cities and states that provide additional protections specific to “gig” workers — i.e., those independent contractors who perform “on-demand” services. Continue Reading State and Local Laws Require Greater Protections for Gig Workers: What Employers Need to Know
Q: Now that DOL-OSHA announced its COVID-19 vaccine ETS for private-sector workers, what does my company need to do to adhere to the guidelines?
A: On November 4, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an emergency temporary standard (ETS), containing the anticipated COVID-19 vaccination rule covering private companies with 100 or more employees. The ETS became effective immediately on November 5 upon its publication in the Federal Register. On November 6, the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals granted an emergency motion to stay enforcement of the ETS effectively nationwide, pending further action by the court, which could come as early as November 9 at 6 p.m. ET. Other challenges to the ETS’s enforcement have been filed in the Eighth, Sixth, and Eleventh circuits thus far.
Continue Reading DOL-OSHA Announces New COVID-19 Vaccine ETS for Private-Sector Workers
Q: Who are the newest members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and what does their arrival mean for the future of micro-units?
A: Party control of the National Labor Relations Board recently shifted to the Democrats when the Senate approved two Biden appointees. In August, longtime union-side attorneys Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty joined fellow Democrat Chairman Lauren McFerran and Republican appointees John Ring and Michael Kaplan on the five-member board.
