On Friday, July 8, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan v. Energy West Mining Company, joining the Sixth Circuit in holding that the...more
On July 7, 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the independent federal corporation that insures private-sector defined benefit plans under Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more
On May 12, 2022, the “Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act” was introduced in the House of Representatives by Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA). Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced a companion bill in the Senate. The bill seeks...more
Virginia, historically reliant on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to govern overtime obligations, passed its first stand-alone overtime law in March 2021. The Virginia Overtime Wage Act (VOWA), went into effect...more
On January 27, 2022, in New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund v. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., the Second Circuit joined the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in applying the doctrine of successor...more
2/8/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Asset Purchaser ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Successor Liability ,
Teamsters ,
Unions ,
Withdrawal Liability
On January 26, 2022, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) withdrew its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which required large employers to ensure that their...more
1/26/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Eight weeks after President Joseph R. Biden’s announcement, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring all employers with at least 100 employees...more
11/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signaled efforts to increase its scrutiny of work activities that may expose workers to heat-related hazards. ...more
9/22/2021
/ Construction Site ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Heat Exposure ,
Labor Reform ,
NEP ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
On August 26, 2021, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board adopted revised amendments to the Final Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19 (the Final Permanent...more
On July 8, 2021, Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Oregon OSHA) adopted emergency Heat Illness Prevention rules to establish workplace heat safety requirements that apply when temperatures in a work area...more
On July 9, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation issued its interim final rule implementing the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program passed in March 2021 as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act of...more
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its long-awaited COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), establishing new mandatory requirements generally...more
6/11/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety
The pandemic seems not to have slowed down state and local lawmakers. Indeed, over 100 new labor and employment laws and ordinances are scheduled to take effect between July 1, 2021 and November 1, 2021. Notably, while some...more
6/9/2021
/ Ban the Box ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hazard Pay ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Masks ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Safety
Employers concerned about the risks and expenses associated with employment litigation have increasingly required their employees to agree to arbitration in the event of a dispute. Even upon the issuance of the arbitrator’s...more
On April 26, 2021, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration sent emergency workplace safety rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to the Office of Management and Budget for review....more
On April 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he intends to nominate Douglas L. Parker to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Mr. Parker is currently the chief of California’s Division of Occupational...more
On April 9, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its “Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators.” The update includes changes to respirator-provision strategies at Conventional...more
Historically, Virginia has not had a standalone overtime law, instead relying on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide protections to employees who work more than 40 hours a week. But that will change on...more
On March 10, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it will not enforce or otherwise pursue enforcement actions with respect to two recently issued final rules amending...more
On February 16, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking to update its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS)....more