As the labor shortage continues to wreak havoc with small businesses across the country, the issue is being fought out in a host of different venues. First off, there are the many states that have announced (or already) that they are suspending or ceasing the extra bonus payments as we’ve reported in prior issues. That…
Read More »When Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed SB.1 into law last week, the Hoosier State became the most recent to enact a liability shield law to protect businesses from lawsuits regarding the coronavirus pandemic. The new Indiana law provides protection from frivolous lawsuits for businesses, schools, health care providers, governments and other entities from lawsuits alleging…
Read More »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…
Read More »Easy to miss in the tsunami of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of changes were recently made – effective two weeks ago on July 1 – to the Indiana Franchise Law. Of greatest import, franchisors registered in Indiana are now required to file an amended disclosure document within 30 days of any “material change” as…
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For seven generations, my family has lived in Evansville, Indiana. My great-great-great-grandfather came here from Ireland in 1828 to start a farm just a mile away from where I live today. He sought the wide open territory to begin life anew in a promising land. From this beginning, the Midwestern values of hard work, hospitality…
Read More »It may be a novel approach in these days of government mandates for everything, but an Indiana state senator is asking the Indiana Legislature to create a study committee to specifically consider the benefits of a voluntary paid family and medical leave program. We saw with minimum wages, many companies voluntarily increased the minimums paid…
Read More »Notwithstanding difficulties within the SEIU offices as outlined above, their push for increased minimum wages seems to be growing new appendages in some locales around the country. Earlier this month, the Common Council of South Bend Indiana expanded its current minimum wage requirement when it voted to tie tax abatements for private businesses to minimum…
Read More »I guess it might be the exception that proves the rule, but legislators in the Hoosier State gave Indiana employers a lot more leeway in their job interview techniques with a new law that took effect July 1. Not only can Indiana employers inquire into any criminal history that a job applicant may have, the…
Read More »While minimum wage and paid sick leave battles steal much of the anti-business limelight of late, we can’t lose sight of the importance of the ongoing efforts to effectively negate the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recasting traditional employer definitions. As the McDonald’s v NLRB joint-employer case continues in a Manhattan courtroom, there’s been plenty…
Read More »In a ruling last week that caught many by surprise, a state court judge ruled the Wisconsin right-to-work law violated the state constitution. Dane County Court Judge William Foust agreed with the organized labor plaintiffs that the right to work law was an illegal taking of union funds by the government without compensation. Not surprisingly,…
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