As we wrote earlier this year, every employer with employees working in Illinois is required to provide employees with sexual harassment prevention training that complies with the Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”). The Illinois Department of Human Rights (“IDHR”) recently released a model sexual harassment prevention training program that meets the IHRA’s requirements. Continue Reading
Where’s the Meat? Interim Federal Guidance for Meat Plant Worker Safety
Posted in Coronavirus, Occupational SafetyAs every employer grappling with the global pandemic can attest, preventing and combatting occurrences of COVID-19 are paramount considerations. This concern has become all the more pronounced, and visible to the nation, with the increasing reports of COVID-19 outbreaks at food processing facilities throughout the country. In response to this potential threat to the nation’s food supply, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) recently issued joint guidance for meat and poultry processing facilities proposing precautionary measures these employers can take to protect their workers and, in turn, the food supply.
U.S. Supreme Court Case Preview—Van Buren v. United States: Does Use of a Computer for an “Improper Purpose” Violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?
For the first time, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The Court’s initial review of the CFAA comes in the wake of a federal circuit split as to whether the statute can only be deployed against hackers and unauthorized users of electronic systems, or also against authorized users who use the information for unauthorized purposes. The Court’s decision may significantly affect not only how law enforcement uses the CFAA, but also whether civil litigants, such as employers, may use the CFAA to defend against unauthorized employee activities. Continue Reading
New York Workers’ Compensation Law: Is COVID-19 Compensable?
Posted in CoronavirusAs previously noted in our blog, workers’ compensation is an emerging area of concern for employers during the COVID-19 crisis. For New York employers in the heart of the pandemic, the question of whether one of their employees will contract COVID-19 in the workplace is less a matter of “if” than “when.” Infected employees may subsequently seek workers’ compensation benefits, which have the potential to be significant if the employee contracts a severe case or suffers lasting damage. As businesses in New York plan to reopen, employers in the state must take care to review applicable workers’ compensation laws and understand when employees who contract COVID-19 in the workplace may be entitled to benefits. Continue Reading
Workers’ Compensation Claims During the Pandemic and Mitigating the Risk
Posted in Coronavirus, Workers CompensationWhile essential workers continue to make their way into the office amid the pandemic, many other Californians have been ordered to shelter in place. At first blush, non-essential businesses may view this as leading to a decrease in workers’ compensation claims because they no longer have employees physically reporting to the office. There could be a decrease in claims for businesses that are closed or have reduced their workforce, which appears to be part of the reason for Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s Order of April 13, 2020, requiring that some insurers refund premiums. However, essential businesses to which employees still report to work and non-essential businesses that require employees to work from home may not see a decrease and could experience an uptick in workers’ compensation claims. Continue Reading
As America Prepares to Return to Work, EEOC Approves Testing Employees for COVID-19
Posted in Coronavirus, EEOC Enforcement UpdatesThe U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its guidance concerning COVID-19, affirming an employer’s ability to medically test its employees for COVID-19 before allowing employees to enter the workplace. The new guidance expands employers’ options to include medical tests that detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus – not just temperature checks. The EEOC considers COVID-19 tests to be permissible because an individual with the virus poses a direct threat to the health of others. Continue Reading
Why, How and When Katz May “Trump” an Expired CBA When It Comes to Making Unilateral Changes — The Relationship Between MV Transportation and Raytheon Network
From time to time, employers trigger labor disputes when they make unilateral changes in working conditions. Unions objecting to such changes often complain to the NLRB, claiming a change to be mandatory bargaining subjects and that the employer’s change without prior bargaining violates the NLRA’s Sections 8(a)(5) and (d). Continue Reading
DOJ and FTC Issue Joint Statement Regarding COVID-19 and Antitrust Violations
Posted in Antitrust, CoronavirusThe Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently issued a joint statement (the “COVID-19 Statement”) regarding what constitutes lawful “procompetitive collaborations” between companies to address certain needs for consumers and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. It also detailed what constitutes unlawful anticompetitive behavior related to essential and frontline workers and other vulnerable employees. The DOJ and FTC used this opportunity to send a clear warning to companies who may seek to take advantage of the current pandemic by entering into agreements to restrain competition and employee mobility or lower wages. Separately, for those companies who are actively working to assist essential workers, businesses and the country as a whole, the COVID-19 Statement provides guidance on engaging in lawful “procompetitive collaboration” to benefit essential workers and the economy amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Continue Reading
Keep a Lid on It – The Trump NLRB Reaffirms Employer Ability to Enforce Investigative Confidentiality Rules
In Apogee Retail, 368 NLRB No. 144 (2019), the NLRB overruled the Obama Board’s decision in Banner Estrella Medical Center, 362 NLRB 1108 (2015) and held that investigative confidentiality rules that by their terms apply only to investigation participants and last only for the duration of an investigation are categorically lawful because the justifications for such rules are self evident and predictably outweigh the comparatively slight potential for such rules to interfere with the exercise of Section 7 rights. In this day and age of workplace harassment claims and internal investigations, Apogee was welcome news for employers because it ended the legal requirement that an employer prove that it had a particularized, legitimate and substantial business justification for compulsory confidentiality and because that said justification outweighed employee Section 7 rights in order for such prohibitions to be adjudged lawful. Continue Reading
San Francisco Surpasses Other Jurisdictions and Enacts Expansive COVID-19 Related Paid Sick Leave
Posted in CoronavirusOn April 14, 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (PHELO). Mayor London Breed signed the ordinance into law on April 17, 2020, making it effective immediately. The PHELO was created in an effort to fill the gap left by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Continue Reading
