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…
Read More »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,…
Read More »It didn’t take long for the regulatory and legislative arms of Michigan state government to restore COVID-19 restrictions in the wake of the state Supreme Court invalidating certain executive orders and emergency COVID mandates of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The good news therein however is HB6030, currently awaiting the Governor’s signature, which provides immunity for businesses…
Read More »In a major rebuke of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled her executive orders extending the original declaration of a state of emergency violated the state constitution and was invalid. As backdrop, the Michigan legislature called a state of emergency back when the coronavirus pandemic first broke in March. That order expired however…
Read More »And it’s not only the major cities that are looking to fill their coffers off the back of hurting businesses. For example, we’d point to Michigan, where the state legislature sought to help businesses get back on their feet by passing 5 bills that all would have altered the tax liabilities of businesses within the…
Read More »Despite such reasonable rulings on overtime and the methods for overtime calculations proposed by the Trump administration, a number of states are dramatically pushing the overtime limits at the state level. On Thursday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) charged the state labor department with expanding overtime eligibility across the state, using the Obama figure as…
Read More »We advised you a couple of weeks ago that the Michigan legislature had amended the new minimum wage and paid sick leave laws they had just passed in October, and now Governor Rick Snyder has made good on his promise to sign the adjustments into law. The increase in the minimum wage and paid leave…
Read More »So at first, there are allegations of voter fraud and the like, then the obligatory calls for recount, and now the new legal phenomenon of “vote harvesting” but after all that fails, just have lame duck legislators change the powers the elected winners will have once they assume office! That is precisely what is happening…
Read More »The current push for increasing minimum wages really began back in 2012, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing much at all. But first, let’s look at the exception that proves the rule. With democrat Gretchen Whitmer poised to take over as Michigan Governor from republican incumbent Rick Snyder, the republican state senate voted Wednesday…
Read More »To summarize, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers was deadlocked (2-2) over whether to certify the validity of a ballot initiative to increase the state minimum wage to $12 by 2022, mandate paid sick leave on private employers and eliminate the tipped wage by 2024. The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered the Board of Canvassers…
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