Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week on our special podcast series, Employers and the New Administration, we look at how the Biden administration’s approach to wage and hour issues will impact employers. Special podcast episodes air every other #WorkforceWednesday.

The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has already adopted the Biden administration’s commitment to enforcement, its movement against arbitration agreements, and a fresh view on worker classification. What other wage and hour developments can employers expect under ...

As we previously reported, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (“DFML” or the “Department”) continues to provide guidance as it rolls out the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program (“PFML” or the “law”), which provides eligible workers with partial income replacement benefits for qualifying reasons.  As a reminder, beginning January 1, 2021, workers may take paid family leave to: (i) bond with a newborn, newly adopted child, or new foster child; (ii) manage family affairs for a family member who is on active military duty in a ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we look at updated safety and mask guidance and the top workplace regulations the Biden administration has rolled back.

Video: YouTube, Vimeo.

Our colleagues Susan Gross Sholinsky and Jenna Russell of Epstein Becker Green have a new post on the Health Employment and Labor blog that will be of interest to our readers: "Make Sure It’s a Good Fit: The CDC Issues Revised COVID-19 Mask Guidance."

The following is an excerpt:

On February 10, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued updated guidance and a report emphasizing the importance of a wearing a mask that fits tightly over the face to slow the spread of COVID-19.  The report, which provides the basis for the CDC’s updated guidance, is ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week kicks off Employers and the New Administration, a special podcast series on how the Biden administration’s first 100 days will impact employers. In this episode, attorney David Garland interviews attorney Gregory Keating on what the nomination of Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary means for employers.

The series will air every other week in #WorkforceWednesday and on your preferred podcast platform.

See below for the video and the extended podcast edition. Visit our site for more news.

Video: YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed dining habits across the world, as governments have shut down and restricted indoor and outdoor dining.  Even where restrictions have eased, many avoid sit-down dining out of concern for COVID-19 exposure and rely on take-away for their restaurant meals.  Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has limited dining options.

France, however, has decided to provide workers with a new, previously forbidden, dining option, although it remains to be seen how palatable it will be to French employees.  The Labor Ministry has decreed that to contain the spread of ...

In our previous blog, we featured the California Privacy Rights Act’s Enhanced Cybersecurity Safeguards.[1] We now highlight significant privacy safeguards under the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) that will require advance planning in preparation for its January 1, 2023 effective date.[2] These new requirements will impact the collection and use of personal information across each organization. In particular, businesses, at a minimum, will need to assess and plan for:

• the effective implementation of data minimization policies, practices, and ...

In 2019, the Connecticut legislature passed sweeping changes to the state’s existing Family and Medical Leave Act, about which we previously reported here.  One of the most significant changes is that beginning in 2022, eligible employees will be entitled to paid family and medical leave.  Although the paid leave requirement does not take effect until next year, there are a number of 2021 deadlines about which employers should be aware.

Website and Mandatory Employer Registration

The 2019 amendments to the PFMLA created the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority (the ...

On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published revised COVID-19 guidance to help employers identify risks and determine appropriate control measures to protect workers from COVID-19 exposure. The guidance entitled, "Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace"  “(the “Guidance”) is not mandatory, but it is likely a precursor to enforcement standards that are also under review by OSHA.

On his first full day in office, President Biden directed OSHA to issue this revised ...

On January 20, 2021, Mayor Jim Kenney signed legislation amending the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance, which prohibits covered employers from procuring, considering, or otherwise using a job applicant’s or employee’s credit-related information in connection with hiring, discharge, tenure, promotion, discipline, or consideration of any other term, condition, or privilege of employment with respect to such employee or applicant.

The amendment, which takes effect on February 20, 2021, expands the scope of covered employers to include financial institutions and ...