Minnesota is now the 23rd state (in addition to Washington D.C. and Guam) to legalize recreational marijuana in some form or another. Minnesota joins a growing list of states taking action on marijuana policy....more
As we previously wrote, in May, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced an end to employers’ ability to remotely inspect I-9 documents (an accommodation made during the...more
On May 26, 2023, Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 542, an Act relating to youth employment. For Iowa employers that employ minors, the new law could be significant....more
Abruzzo has been busy. Within the last few months, she has issued two notable memorandums that could have significant impacts on how employers must comply with the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). It is important to...more
6/5/2023
/ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proprietary Information ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is ending employers’ ability to remotely inspect I-9 documents on July 31, 2023. Employers will have an additional 30 days, until August...more
Employee reductions and terminations are an unfortunate result of economic downturns. Even during good economic times, many companies face the need to reduce their workforce or terminate the employment of individual...more
3/3/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Release Agreements ,
Section 7 ,
Separation Agreement ,
Severance Agreements ,
Termination
On January 5, 2023 the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a rule to ban most non-compete agreements (“non-competes”) for American workers. The text of the proposed rule is broad: provisions that prevent workers from...more
1/11/2023
/ Competition ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Unfair Competition
On March 17, 2022, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 2521, “Relating to Health Care Employment Agencies, and Providing Penalties” into law. We previously discussed the new law on a June 10, 2022 blog post....more
For the last few months, we have been fielding calls from clients in the healthcare industry asking about things such as whether they still needed to screen patients upon entry to facilities, whether employees must still wear...more
Lately, litigation news related to public and private workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates has quieted. That changed last Friday, when the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed a nationwide injunction against the...more
9/2/2022
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Injunctions ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
What is the current Minnesota law regarding edible products containing THC?
An inconsistency in two amended provisions of Minnesota Statute § 151.72 has resulted in what some have deemed the legislature “accidentally”...more
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act by way of a party line vote of 235-189. In general, the federal CROWN Act and similar state...more
On March 17, 2022, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law House File 2521, “Relating to Health Care Employment Agencies, and Providing Penalties,” which will have its home in Chapter 135Q of the Iowa Code. In general, the...more
6/10/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Final Rules ,
Governor Reynolds ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
New Legislation ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Vaccinations
There is a lot going on right now for healthcare employers. The first phase of CMS’s vaccine mandate is in full effect nationwide (now including Texas), the CDC has changed masking guidance in some circumstances, and it has...more
Health care employers are not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the constantly changing legal status of the various federal vaccine mandates. On Thursday afternoon, the Supreme Court made its rulings on two preliminary...more
1/18/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On December 17, 2021, a three-judge panel for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (with one judge dissenting) lifted the nationwide temporary stay of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency...more
12/21/2021
/ Appeals ,
Case Consolidation ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Order to Lift Stay ,
OSHA ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On November 29, 2021, a federal court in Missouri enjoined the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) vaccine mandate in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire,...more
11/30/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On November 12, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed its stay pending judicial review of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary...more
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published their much-anticipated rules mandating COVID-19 vaccinations. ...more
11/9/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
New Guidance ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Preemption ,
Stays ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
Employers with 100 or more employees should continue to develop policies requiring workers either to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or to submit to weekly testing and other safety requirements, in the expectation that...more
11/9/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On October 29, 2021, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law legislation affecting the interplay between Iowa employers, employees, and COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Iowa’s new law, HF 902, sets up questions regarding...more
11/2/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Governor Reynolds ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Vaccinations ,
Waivers
On October 25, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released additional guidance for employers navigating their way through employee requests for religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The...more
On September 30, 2021, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Council issued a memorandum requiring that most federal contractors and subcontractors include a clause in future contracts and subcontracts that require...more
10/7/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Public Contracts ,
Remote Working ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
On May 28, 2021, a group of Houston Methodist Hospital employees filed a lawsuit challenging the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees. The lawsuit, filed by 117 employees, was the first to challenge a health...more
9/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health ,
Vaccinations
On September 9, 2021, the Biden Administration announced its new COVID-19 Action Plan (the “Action Plan”), which outlines a six-pronged approach to combat the pandemic. The wide-ranging Action Plan lays out plans to vaccinate...more
9/14/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Private Sector ,
Subcontractors ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Tribal Governments ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety