Notwithstanding continuing unfulfilled promises of business liability shields from COVID lawsuits at the federal level, a number of additional states are now considering implementing their own liability shields at the state level. Currently, both Indiana and Florida are considering bills filed for the new legislative sessions that would provide a level of immunity from potentially…
Concluding a long two-decade endeavor by Ohio business interests, Governor Mike DeWine this week signed House Bill 352 into law in the Buckeye State. The legislation, which has been strongly pushed for years by the defense bar as well as business advocates, reduces the statute of limitation on complaints of discrimination within the workplace. Previously,…
As we told you several weeks ago, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) yesterday began paying out an aggregate $5 billion to employers across the Buck-Eye state. Over 178,000 employers will receive the dividends, which come from the surplus in the state workers compensation fund, a result of closings caused by the COVID pandemic…
Presidents and presidential candidates come and go, with this year’s election no different than many others in our country’s history in that regard. But many of the issues Dunkin’ franchise owners care about are not solely or even principally determined in Washington, D.C. Rather, state lawmakers and their counterparts on the local level – city…
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought small business numerous challenges. We can now add another to the list: Employees filing increasing numbers of COVID-19 related lawsuits. In fact, according to the Fisher Phillips Employment Litigation Tracker, as of November 1, COVID-19 related lawsuits have been filed against 950 employers. The highest number of lawsuits were filed…
Not unlike the New York minimum wage increase, the new Illinois anti-sexual harassment training requirement takes effect just before the New Year – on December 31. The Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (IWTA) requires employers to provide the anti-harassment training to all employees at least once a year. In addition, the IWTA specifies exactly what the…
In short order, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) this week approved the request of Governor Mike DeWine to authorize dividends for Ohio employers of monies paid to fund the state unemployment compensation fund. DeWine requested that the BWC rebate as much as $5 billion to help businesses and other employers in the state…
While the results of the presidential will not be known, let alone certified for quite some time, such delays are not the case in a host of ballot question issues from around the country. Perhaps having the greatest immediate impact on businesses, Amendment 2 was passed by Florida voters with a 61% plurality (the constitutional…
Aside from the Presidential, Senatorial and Congressional elections on the ballot on Tuesday, there are also a broad array of ballot questions that may have a significant impact on business interests – now and/or in the future across the country. We want to highlight a few of these for you. We’ve advised you in past…
Restaurant owners out in California have initiated formal requests for rebates on funds they’ve paid to the state, county or municipality for permits, liquor fees, etc. since they have not been legally able to operate. Currently, most restaurants in the state are limited to 25% of capacity, and even under the best of COVID circumstances,…