The Colorado legislature recently passed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, which will require all employers to provide three types of paid sick leave, including: COVID-19 emergency leave, paid sick and safe time, and public health emergency leave.
Beginning July 1, 2020, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission will begin enforcing a new law that will affect how Virginia employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers respond to initial benefit claims filed by an injured worker.
On June 23, 2020, the NLRB issued a decision holding that employers have no duty to bargain over serious employee discipline imposed before the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement, overturning a 2016 decision and returning to prior precedent.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a lawsuit alleging a violation of the drug testing statute brought against an employer that terminated an employee for refusing to submit to a reasonable grounds drug test.
While actual enforcement was delayed at first, lately the U.S. Department of Labor has become quite active in prosecuting claims against businesses for alleged FFCRA violations.
San Diego County employers that scrambled to find thermometers to comply with the county’s prior health order (which was then superseded) learned that their efforts were not in vain, as the county revived its temperature check requirement on June 16.
On June 16, 2020, Ontario released a Guide to help employers satisfy their responsibilities under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect workers from contracting COVID-19.
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently rendered a decision pertaining to the enforceability of termination provisions in employment contracts, holding that the proper method is to analyze the agreement as a whole rather than on a piecemeal basis.
As the U.S. continues to struggle with the impact of the pandemic on health, safety, and the economy, it is likely that many employers will have yet another issue to face as they attempt to maintain and reopen their businesses: lawsuits.
On June 22, 2020, and citing economic recovery needs and unemployment due to the pandemic, President Trump issued a proclamation outlining expected new temporary restrictions on H-1B, H-2B, J-1, and L-1 nonimmigrant worker visas.
