Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we look at the return to Obama-era employment and labor policies, with a key difference: unionization.

The City of Chicago recently enacted the Chicago COVID-19 Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance.

The Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance allows workers in Chicago – including independent contractors -- to get vaccinated during a scheduled “shift,” requires pay for hours taken to get vaccinated (if an employer mandates the vaccine), and prohibits retaliation for getting vaccinated during a scheduled shift.

Specifically, the Chicago Vaccine Anti-Retaliation Ordinance provides as follows:

1. An employer may not require that a worker only be vaccinated during ...

On March 3, 2021, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio issued Executive Order No. 64 (“EO”), which, effective immediately, imposes new sexual harassment reporting requirements on “human services” providers who contract with the City.  The EO requires the Department of Investigation (“DOI”) to review information about sexual harassment complaints and provide its findings to any City agency that contracts with the disclosing provider.

“Human services” is defined by the relevant section of the Administrative Code to include “day care, foster care, home care ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  While the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that employers can institute mandatory vaccination policies, there are many legal considerations that come with those policies, especially as more employees return to work. And employers that do not mandate vaccines are wondering what workplace rules they can implement without legal risk. Attorneys Jennifer Barna and Nathaniel Glasser tell us more. You can also read more about the legal considerations of mandating vaccination.

Video: YouTube, Vimeo.

On May 3, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced a significant easing of COVID-19-related capacity restrictions on businesses in their respective states. Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut, who joined the other two governors in the announcement, had previously ordered a comparable lifting of capacity restrictions in his state.

Specifically, effective May 19, New Jersey and New York will remove most capacity limitations on businesses, which are currently based on a percentage of maximum capacity, and replace them with limitations ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, several COVID-19 vaccine news developments and updates were announced for employers.

Paid Leave Tax Credit for Employers

President Biden recently announced employers that offer full pay to workers for vaccinations and recovery may be entitled to a paid leave tax credit.

EEOC Promises Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Programs

EEOC acting legal counsel Carol Miaskoff said recently that the agency will release guidance on vaccine incentive programs.

OSHA Offers Guidance on Vaccine Reaction Reporting

Guidance from OSHA ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, our special podcast series, Employers and the New Administration, concludes with a look at how President Biden’s landmark American Rescue Plan impacts employers.

As President Biden’s first 100 days come to a close, his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) is having a big impact on employers. The plan, one of the largest stimulus bills in history, attempts to provide relief to constituents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through several ways, among those ways are changes to employee benefits and compensation.

In ...

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”).  ARPA is the latest COVID-19-related stimulus legislation passed by Congress, but, unlike prior legislation, ARPA provides expansive funding rule changes and significant financial assistance to deeply underfunded multiemployer pension plans, including a one-time payment to certain plans from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) without any repayment obligations.

ARPA’s provisions regarding multiemployer pension plans focus primarily on the plans ...

Preparing the terms of employee compensation can be a resource-intensive task requiring input from stakeholders across numerous departments, including human resources, finance, and legal. However, as the Massachusetts Appeals Court’s recent decision in Alfieri v. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. demonstrates, investing those resources to complete the task will pay dividends when an employer is faced with a potentially costly claim for unpaid wages.

Background

In May 2014, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. sent Michael Alfieri a letter offering him the position of ...

A recently discovered security vulnerability potentially affecting at least 100 million Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices[1] highlights the importance of the newly enacted IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 (the “IoT Act”). Researchers at the security firms Forescout Research Labs and JSOF Research Labs have jointly published a report detailing a security vulnerability known as “NAME:WRECK.” This is exactly the type of issue that the new IoT Act was and is designed to address at the governmental level, because the vulnerability can detrimentally affect ...