New York “HERO” Act Amendments Provide Employers with Additional Time and Guidance to Comply with Law Aimed to Reduce Spread of Airborne Infectious Diseases...more
6/16/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Prevention Procedures ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Special Committees ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
In our recent webinar, Moving Forward: Key Reopening Issues & Considerations, Goulston & Storrs attorneys explored the new set of challenges employers face as Massachusetts lifts the remaining COVID-19 restrictions....more
6/8/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
As states across the country begin to ease workplace restrictions responding to COVID-19, New York will require employers to take steps, almost immediately, to avert another pandemic. The New York legislature recently enacted...more
As the zero hour for Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) approaches, employers need to dust off their leave policies and prepare to coordinate them with PFML in 2021.
...more
For many working parents, Labor Day typically marks the end of the footloose and fancy-free days of summer. Kids return to school, extracurricular activities and sports practices commence, and we resume our hectic, yet...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to reevaluate almost all areas of our life, including redefining the employment relationship. Our return to the workplace, like our return to society, must be structured around collective...more
5/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Screening Procedures ,
Social Distancing ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Decontamination ,
Workplace Safety
Have you been self-isolating (and following social distance and face-covering protocol when leaving your residence) for the past 14 days, alone or with others, all of whom also have been self-isolating?
...more
Step 1: Prepare for employees to return to the workplace.
Assess the risk level of your workplace according to OSHA Guidelines.
Lower exposure risk (caution) jobs are those that do not require contact with people known to...more
5/11/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Screening Procedures ,
Social Distancing ,
Workplace Safety
Equality in Pay Laws and How Companies are Addressing Them: Like California and New York, as of July 1, 2018, Massachusetts’ Act to Establish Pay Equity promotes salary transparency, restricts employers from asking candidates...more
12/3/2018
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Pay ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Marijuana ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Screening Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Having survived the holiday shopping season, retailers should begin to prepare for any new employment laws that will go into effect in the coming year (and, of course, should ensure that they are complying with existing...more
1/18/2018
/ Anti-Bullying Laws ,
Breastfeeding ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Contract ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
In 2014, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Labor (DOL) to update the regulations defining which workers are protected by the Fair Labor Standard Act's (FSLA) minimum wage and...more
On June 19, 2015, the Office of the Attorney General (the “AGO”) published the final regulations (940 CMR 33.00 et seq.) to the Massachusetts Earned Sick Leave Law (G.L. c. 149, § 148C). The final regulations provide much...more
If you employ a nanny or housecleaner in Massachusetts, read on -- you probably are impacted by a new law. In particular, families and individuals who hire domestic workers to provide housekeeping, childcare and other...more
Effective April 7, 2015, Massachusetts employers with six or more employees must provide childbirth leave on a gender neutral basis. Under a new Parental Leave Act law (“PLA”) signed by former Governor Deval Patrick on the...more
As we ring in the New Year, many employers take the opportunity to review their personnel policies to ensure that they are up to date. Leave laws often are at the forefront of new developments. Here in Massachusetts, voters...more