Labor & Employment Law Update

The Trump administration has enacted more than 400 immigration policy changes. That’s one change every 3.65 days the administration has been in office.

Weary from the whiplash of changes and weight of additional work, many are wondering how President-Elect Joe Biden will approach immigration policy.

Here are my thoughts on four issues affecting clients:

The Quickest Change Will Likely Be Better Visa Processing Times

COVID-19 will still slow processing as many U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) employees are working from home. But without the anti-immigration ...

New COVID-19 cases are surging in Illinois, and Illinois is ramping up more restrictions by instituting additional measures throughout the state. Generally, these measures have the objective of limiting gatherings and encouraging people to stay at home, but do not rise to the level of a stay-at-home order. Illinois’ Phase 4 remains in place with the following new restrictions:

1. Manufacturing (Implementation of safety guidelines): 
   • Additional COVID-19 training for all employees (even if previous training occurred)
   • Employers to coordinate with IDPH to implement testing ...

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced new coronavirus restrictions on November 13 that took effect on November 15, 2020 and continue through December 12, 2020. All businesses are allowed to be open subject to the restrictions in Executive Order 20-48. Executive Order 20-48 implements a county by county assessment that determines various measures, including crowd sizes, depending on the level of COVID-19 in that county (e.g. 25 people in red counties and 50 people in orange counties, with larger events needing approval from health officials). Businesses in higher risk ...

In response to the recent increased spread of Coronavirus in Ohio, Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health have enacted several new Orders affecting all Ohio residents. Namely, in addition to existing protocols and guidelines for businesses, which remain in effect, the state has now instituted a 21-day curfew and restrictions for certain types of mass gatherings. 

Statewide Curfew – Effective November 19, 2020

In order to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Ohio Department of Health has mandated a statewide curfew for all Ohio residents, from 10 PM to 5 AM daily ...

The State of Missouri has continued to resist imposing significant state-wide orders to combat the spread of COVID-19. However, with positivity rates on the rise and pressure increasing on health providers throughout the state, some localities have recently enacted enhanced restrictions on businesses and social gatherings to combat the spread. 

One such locality is St. Louis County, which enacted the following health orders, which went into effect on Tuesday, November 17, 2020:

• November 12, 2020 – “Safer At Home” Order
  • Residents are required to stay at home, unless to ...

Although Wisconsin has no statewide or industry-specific requirements, Governor Evers’ November 10, 2020 Executive Order “strongly encouraged” all businesses to take a number of precautions in response to the COVID-19 resurgence, including:

• Hold meetings and collaborate online or by phone, even if staff are physically present at the worksite
• Alternate work teams or stagger shifts
• Require staff, customers, and the public to wear masks, and require social distancing of 6 feet between all individuals at the worksite
• Prevent staff from entering the worksite if they ...

With the prospect of an FDA approved COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon, employers are already wondering whether they will be able to require their employees to get the vaccine. Because the pandemic has caused changes in other workplace rules, the answer to this question is not clear.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) generally prohibits employers from mandating that employees receive any vaccinations unless they are job-related, consistent with business necessity, and no more intrusive than necessary. This is ordinarily a difficult standard to meet unless the employer ...

As new information unfolds surrounding our understanding of COVID-19, and seeing that the odds appear to be increasing on who may actually get the virus, employers need to be vigilant in examining whether or not an employee contracts the virus at work or in the course of their employment.  In order to assist employers in this exercise and help them possibly defend against legal challenges later (including workers compensation claims), the following updated questionnaire and HR checklist may be useful. The questionnaire and checklist should be kept confidential and used only by ...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional guidance to employers as to the compensability of time employees spend attending voluntary training programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  In other words, if an employee attends a training program related to work, on his or her own volition and not under compulsion by the employer, must he or she be compensated?

The answer, according to the DOL: it depends.

Stepping back, the FLSA generally requires that non-exempt employees receive the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime at 1.5x the regular rate ...