The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continues to focus on preventing workplace violence in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare settings, where employees are five...more
7/25/2024
/ Citations ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
General Duty Clause ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Nursing Homes ,
OSHA ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence ,
Workplace Violence Prevention Programs
While the campaigns for U.S. President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Ohio Supreme Court, and to a lesser extent the Ohio General Assembly will dominate media attention, we still anticipate activity at the Statehouse....more
1/9/2024
/ Comment Period ,
Community Development ,
Congressional Committees ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor DeWine ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Grants ,
Legislative Agendas ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Funding ,
Tax Reform ,
Transgender
This week, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a series of decisions overturning two major Trump-era precedents. On August 30, 2023, the NLRB overturned Raytheon Network Centric Systems with its decisions in...more
Governor Mike DeWine signed into law this week the state’s new two-year state spending plan totaling $86.1 billion. After settling on more than 900 matters of difference, the Ohio legislature passed Ohio’s new budget with...more
The Ohio House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed a bi-partisan version of the two-year state budget that features numerous changes from the one Governor DeWine introduced, most notably a $1 billion income tax...more
In his most recent annual State of the State address, Governor Mike DeWine focused on children and families by calling on the Legislature to pass tax breaks while increasing spending on economic development and social...more
What Didn't Happen -
The 134th General Assembly wrapped up its work last week putting the final touches on a marathon lame duck session. Benesch secured numerous big wins for our clients, including an amendment to the tax...more
Before concluding the work of the Legislature, the caucuses have selected their leadership teams. House Republicans have agreed on Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Twp.) to be speaker for the 135th General Assembly....more
Legal sports gaming is coming to Ohio on January 1, 2023. Thanks to the law signed by Governor Mike DeWine (HB 29) last year, which legalized and set forth the regulatory framework for sports gaming, Ohioans will be...more
Protections for LGBTQ+ persons, especially transgender individuals, continue to be trending topics in both legal and social circles. Lia Thomas, recently nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year, has captured front page headlines...more
It has taken more than three years and hundreds of hours of debate, but Ohio has finally passed legislation to legalize sports betting. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court overturned the federal Professional and Amateur...more
Ohio House of Representative leadership announced recently that they plan to consider a capital budget bill in 2022 to include funding for community projects.
The capital budget provides appropriations for state agency...more
Last week, Governor Mike DeWine signed the $74 billion state operating budget, which builds on the Governor’s vision for the future. The two-year spending bill (HB 110), includes nearly $162 billion in all funds...more
On June 10, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”), a mandatory workplace safety rule aimed at protecting healthcare workers from COVID-19. OSHA also...more
On May 6, 2021, Senate Bill 176 (SB 176) was introduced in the Ohio Senate by Senators Antani and Manning to legalize and regulate sports gaming. SB 176 is the result of eight hearings with an array of testimony from 50...more
On April 20, 2021, OSHA issued new guidance on when employers must report instances in which an employee suffers an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccination. According to the guidance, employers who require their employees...more
4/23/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Guidance Update ,
OSHA ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revised federal guidance on using N95 respirators to take into account their increased availability. The tight-fitting respirators filter out 95% of airborne...more
The Centers for Disease Control recently changed the definition of “close contact,” as it relates to an individual’s exposure to someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19. In the prior guidance, the CDC defined “close...more
OSHA released its latest guidance on when employers must notify it of workers being hospitalized or dying because of COVID-19. The new guidelines provide the following changes for reporting purposes...more
Starting September 15, 2020, H.B. 81 became effective making noteworthy changes to the Ohio workers’ compensation law. The intent of the new bill was to create workers’ compensation coverage for detention facility employees;...more
If an employer’s substance abuse policy requires employees to undergo random urinalysis drug testing, and employees sign consent forms authorizing “any testing necessary” but not specifically discussing direct observation...more
On May 19, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued an “updated interim guidance” memorandum to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (“CSHOs”) for enforcing the requirements under the...more
Benesch Law’s Labor and Employment group recently wrote on general labor and employment related concerns relative to COVID-19 in an article published on March 6, 2020. In just the last six days, thousands of additional cases...more
3/13/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Emergency Response ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Layoffs ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
OSHA ,
Quarantine ,
Telecommuting ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour ,
World Health Organization
Are these the “end times”? No, but the degree of threat that Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses to the world’s population keeps being debated in the print, broadcast, cable, and social media. Although the disease...more
3/9/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Safety
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) continued its recent wave of significant decisions on September 10, 2019, when it adopted a new standard for analyzing whether an employer’s unilateral change to terms of employment...more