Labor & Employment Law Update

As COVID-19 rates are rising throughout the country, employers may want to review the safety measures they are taking to prevent spreading the coronavirus in the workplace. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released additional guidance on the interplay between COVID-19 and an employer’s legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Key questions and answers regarding steps that employers can lawfully take to safeguard their workplace are summarized below:

• May employers ask all employees physically entering the workplace if ...

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its guidelines to define a close contact with a COVID-19 carrier to include several brief exposures. The CDC now defines “close contact” with an infected person as “[s]omeone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.”  The change now means that the 15-minutes of exposure time includes ...

On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 973.  This new pay reporting law applies to private employers in California: (a) with 100 or more employees; and (b) that are required to file an annual Employer Information Report (EEO-1) pursuant to federal law. Beginning March 31, 2021, and on an annual basis, covered employers will have to provide California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) with pay data by specified job categories and by race, ethnicity and sex. We previously reported on this anticipated legislation ...

With the General Election on November 3^rd rapidly approaching, registered voters are exploring various options for casting their ballots, be it through mail or in person early or on Election Day (November 3^rd). One critical factor that may drive an individual’s voting plan is their work schedule, which raises the question of whether employers are required to give their employees time off to vote.

The answer to that question depends on the state where you work. A summary of the requirements from around the Midwest is below:

Illinois requires employers to give employees two paid ...

Even in the pandemic, the (high) number of class action filings based upon the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA) remains steady. And, against that backdrop come two recent decisions that may impact how employers need to shift their defense strategies.

First, in McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville Park LLC, the Illinois Court of Appeals ruled that the state Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) and its exclusivity provisions do not bar claims for statutory damages under BIPA. The court distinguished the two, noting that while the WCA provides remedies to workers that have sustained ...

While many California employers are challenged on multiple fronts at the moment from the ongoing pandemic and wildfires, they nonetheless need to be mindful of new employment law measures recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The major changes include stronger family leave protections, new COVID-19-related reporting requirements and rules helping essential workers get Workers’ Compensation, tighter gig-work rules, and data collection requirements to help track race and gender pay gaps. 

1.  New Family Leave Law

On September 17, 2020, Gov. Newsom signed a bill that gives ...