The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted the Petition for Certiorari of Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. to review an issue splitting the federal Courts of Appeals under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Justices have been asked to construe a regulation under the...
Content By Alan M. Rauss
New Ohio Law Limits Overtime Compensation
Beginning July 6th of this year, Ohio employers will be impacted by a new set of rules for hourly employees in regard to their overtime pay. Last week, Governor DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 47 into law. It was touted as a much-needed legal gauntlet to protect Ohio...
CDC Reinstates Indoor Mask Policy
On July 27, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) once again recommended that even fully vaccinated individuals should wear masks indoors in areas with high rates of COVID-19 transmission. This reversal from its May 2021 guidance, which dropped...
Presidential Executive Order Requests Big Changes for Labor Market
President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order Friday aimed at promoting competition in the labor market. The order establishes 72 initiatives and calls to action over a dozen federal agencies to combat what Biden calls the most pressing competition problems in...
New OSHA Guidance for COVID-19: Healthcare Workers and Other At-Risk Employees
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a new emergency temporary standard to set workplace safety rules for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, OSHA released new general workplace guidance for unvaccinated or...
American Rescue Plan: Employers Must Provide COBRA Subsidies to Qualifying Employees
The American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, contains significant changes to COBRA. The biggest change is that employers must now provide assistance-eligible individuals with a 100% subsidy for COBRA premiums from April 1, 2021 to Sept. 30,...
Gov. DeWine Signs the Employment Law Uniformity Act
On Jan. 12, 2021, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 352, the Employment Law Uniformity Act, into law. This Bill, sponsored by Republican State Representative Jon Cross, is a long-awaited and employer-friendly change, which brings Ohio’s employment...
Proposed EEOC Guidance Protects Religious Institution Employers Against Employment Discrimination Claims
On Nov. 17, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its proposed Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination for public comment. If adopted, the guidance would update the Compliance Manual for the first time since July 2008. The Proposed...
Minor Leaguers Get a Win in FLSA Lawsuit Against MLB
In a lawsuit originating in 2014 captioned Senne, et al. v. Kansas City Royals Baseball, et al., thousands of minor league baseball players (the “Minor Leaguers”) allege that Major League Baseball and its teams (collectively, “MLB”) has failed to pay them a fair wage,...
Gap Board Diversity Lawsuit Demonstrates New Legal Risks for Employers
The Gap recently became the latest well-known company to be targeted with a derivative lawsuit by shareholders, alleging a lack of commitment to diversity. Underlying The Gap lawsuit are several key lessons. First, if a company makes a diversity pledge, it should be...