Last week, the Senate passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (H.R. 4445) (the “Act”), which prohibits the enforcement of mandatory arbitration agreements in connection with sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. The measure had previously passed in the House on February 7th. Although President Biden has not

The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) began the new year with a rate reduction for Ohio’s public employers, estimating that those employers will pay nearly $17 million less in workers’ compensation insurance premiums next year thanks to the cut. The BWC announced that this 10% rate reduction was made possible by a decline in injury

Shortly after taking office in January, 2021, President Biden created the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The Task Force’s mission is to develop policies, programs and practices to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining. It is chaired by Vice President Harris, its vice chair is Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, and its

Did the federal government overreach when it issued emergency rules forcing employers to impose vaccine mandates? The United States Supreme Court will take up that important question today when it examines emergency COVID-19 vaccine rules issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Supreme Court

A recent barrage of federal injunctions has caused substantial confusion for employers who were preparing to comply with federal vaccine mandates, including mandates involving OSHA, CMS and federal contractors. As a result, many covered employers are re-evaluating their plans to take the following points into consideration:

  1. The federal injunctions stop the government from forcing certain

As we all know by now, on November 5, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to protect workers in businesses with more than 100 employees from the Coronavirus, and on November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed enforcement of the ETS. B.S.T. Holdings, LLC,

Return to work procedures and vaccine mandates have consumed much of Human Resources’ attention over the past year. However, there are other areas of the law that employers should continue to monitor. For example, California recently passed Senate Bill 331 (“SB 331”) which limits an employer’s ability to use non-disparagement, non-disclosure, and confidentiality agreements. Specifically,

On September 29, 2021, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a Guidance Memorandum memorializing her position that student-athletes at private universities should be considered “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The NLRB has never  directly answered the question of whether student-athletes are employees under the NLRA.  

On September 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized a regulation which allows for penalties up to $1,100 per violation, plus back wages owed, whenever the DOL finds tipped workers have been cheated of tips.  Previously, a Trump Administration rule, which was never finalized, only allowed fines to be imposed for “repeated and