Client Alerts
Client Alerts
1247 items, 20 items per page
- On March 18, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel released a report addressing “problematic” employee handbook provisions that could be “reasonably construed” as having a chilling effect on employees’ Section 7 activity under the National Labor Relations Act (basically, the right to engage in “concerted activities” for collective bargaining or “other mutual aid and protection”).
- No company today is immune from negative reviews on websites such as My3Cents.com. In fact, My3Cents.com has received an aggregate 2.2 star rating (out of 5) on its own website.
- The IRS will need detailed information from employers to enforce three Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax provisions. The IRS must determine whether: (1) an employer owes a pay or play penalty for failing to offer affordable, minimum value health coverage to its full-time employees; (2) employees and/or their family members are entitled to tax credits (subsidies) for the purchase of health insurance in the public exchanges; and (3) employees and/or their family members owe penalties for failing to maintain health coverage.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a study on March 10, 2015 that concludes that pre-dispute arbitration agreements restrict a consumers’ relief. This study is the latest step in the CFPB’s analysis of lenders’ arbitration practices and is widely regarded as a precursor to new regulations.
- In Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association, the Supreme Court unanimously held that federal agencies do not have to engage in formal notice-and-comment rulemaking when changing their interpretative rules (even when, as in the case before the Court, those changes are significant).
- In Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association, the Supreme Court unanimously held that federal agencies do not have to engage in formal notice-and-comment rulemaking when changing their interpretative rules (even when, as in the case before the Court, those changes are significant).
- Over the past year, Pennsylvania has continued to lead the northeastern United States in natural gas production. According to a report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on November 25, 2014, Pennsylvania became the second-largest shale gas producing state in the nation in 2013, and production continued to increase throughout 2014.
- 2014 was a year of continued growth and expansion for Ohio’s oil and gas industry. Drilling and production increased dramatically, with more than 50 Utica rigs operating in Ohio at year end and over 550 new drilling permits having been issued as of October 2014, which is more than all of 2013.
- With Governor Scott Walker’s signature today, Wisconsin has become the latest state to enact a right-to-work law. Indiana and Michigan last did so in 2012. Wisconsin brings the total number of right-to-work states to 25.
- Businesses have a lot to gain from positive online reviews. Even a business that has overall strong reviews, however, can suffer if a disgruntled person publishes a false and defamatory post. Complaints.com is one website where businesses can become victims of internet defamation, and the website’s header – which reads “CONSUMERS IN CONTROL” – implies the difficulty of a business’s internet reputation being in the hands of other persons.
- Any employer who has done business in California is familiar with the state’s byzantine wage-hours laws and the immense liability for even minor violations. The complexity of these laws – and the potential exposure facing employers – has not been lost on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as the recent case of Mendoza v. Nordstrom demonstrates.
- There is no denying that online reviews are important for businesses. After all, customers regularly search them out and are increasingly relying them.
- Several employment laws recently became effective in Washington, D.C. that impose new requirements on employers operating within the District on wage transparency, marijuana testing, pregnancy accommodations and concealed weapons. Employers should review their current operations and policies to ensure they comply with the new laws’ requirements.
- Effective May 26, 2015, certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants will become eligible for their own employment eligibility.
- Labor and Employment Alert: Department of Labor Finalizes Rule on Same-Sex Spouses for FMLA CoverageThe federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees of covered employers with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family, medical, and military family reasons. On February 25, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Final Rule that revises the FMLA’s regulatory definition of “spouse.”
- As the 131st Ohio General Assembly continues to get underway, Senate Democrats recently introduced three bills regulating employers’ use of consumer credit reports, criminal histories and social media accounts.
- Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), an employer can be liable for hostile work environment harassment in two ways. First, an employee can assert a cause of action directly against the employer for negligently or recklessly causing the hostile environment. Second, the employer can be vicariously liable for the acts of its supervisors. The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Aguas v. State, 2015 N.J. LEXIS 131 (2015), significantly impacts the state’s employers when it comes to defending against that second theory of sexual harassment and reinforces the importance of effective anti-harassment procedures.
- Founded in 2007, Glassdoor.com is an online “career community” with a database consisting of several million company reviews, CEO ratings, salary reports, job interview reports and more. But as both the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal phrased things – in articles published nearly three years apart – Glassdoor is a website where employees can “anonymously dish” on their companies and bosses.
- The Ohio Department of Taxation is expected to begin auditing businesses within the oil and gas industry for sales and use tax compliance (i.e., purchase audits).
- The Ohio Department of Taxation has announced its renewed effort to audit Ohio direct pay permit holders for sales and use tax compliance (i.e., purchase audits).