The Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) has implemented a couple of changes that Bay State employers need to be aware of. Effective January 1, 2022, the DFML will increase the average weekly wage and increase the maximum benefit for covered leave. At the same time, the Department also announced a decrease in the…
Read More »Although it clearly remains to be seen how the final verdict will play out, a federal judge in Missouri has allowed a COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit to proceed to trial. Judge Stephen Bough of the US District Court for Western Missouri continues to swim upstream on the issue of COVID-19 business interruption claims as most…
Read More »We knew it was coming at some point, and now the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed its first lawsuit alleging an employer violated the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by not allowing for a “reasonable accommodation” in the COVID era. The particulars in this case involve teleworking – not a major concern to…
Read More »Although the President announced the drastic step over one week ago, there is still very little known by way of definite answers on what will and will not be contained in the final Department of Labor Emergency Temporary Standard regarding his vaccine mandate – and it may be a few more weeks until we see…
Read More »When New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on the Labor Day holiday that the state Commissioner of Health had issued a designation of the COVID-19 virus as a “highly contagious communicable disease”, the announcement triggered the state HEROES Act and along with it, a host of additional obligations on the state’s employers. The HEROES Act,…
Read More »Earlier this week, the New York City requirement that diners must show at least proof of at least one shot of the COVID vaccine began being enforced. Notwithstanding that a lawsuit filed by a number of Big Apple restaurants last month is still pending in the courts, the city began enforcement of the Mayor’s proof…
Read More »Last night from the White House, President Biden announced that through the US Department of Labor’s Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA), he will be requiring that all American employers with 100 or more employees mandate that their employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus or produce a negative COVID-19 test on a weekly basis. In…
Read More »It was announced yesterday in Washington DC that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has made a number of significant changes to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The loan cap, which previously was set at $500,000, has been increased to $2 million and actually went in effect Wednesday evening although it wasn’t announced until…
Read More »One of the many great presentations given at this week’s 20th Annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference which concludes today in Las Vegas, was effectively a status report on the state of the franchising industry. Overall, the report by FranData CEO Darrell Johnson pointed to calm seas on the surface with much tumult churning below. As to…
Read More »Notwithstanding the expanding spread of the COVID Delta variant and the ongoing difficulties with getting the economy completely opened up again – let alone the continuing labor shortage – first-time unemployment claims dropped last week to 340,000, the lowest level since the pandemic hit in March of 2020. This Department of Labor (DOL) report comes…
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