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HOW DOES THE LAW REGULATE MASS LAYOFFS AND PLANT CLOSINGS?
Recently, the Commerce Department disclosed the most devastating three-month collapse of the U.S. economy ever. In the second quarter of 2020, the gross domestic product fell by 9.5%. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic reached throughout the economy. Consumers cut their spending. Businesses reduced their investing. Global trade mostly ended. <<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/business/economy/q2-gdp-coronavirus-economy.html>>. Economic declines have real […]
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Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Effective Estate Planning in a Pandemic
For many of our business clients, addressing the realities of estate and business succession planning amid the COVID-19 pandemic may seem unnecessarily alarmist or generally depressing. However, it is an all too necessary and practical concern for the sober-eyed, forward-thinking business leaders that make up our clientele. The lynchpin of a good succession or estate […]
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HOW DOES THE COLLISION OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WITH WORKPLACES POSE SAFETY ISSUES FOR EMPLOYERS?
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSH Act”), requires employers to satisfy the safety and health standards and regulations issued and enforced either by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) or by an OSHA-approved State Plan. In addition, the OSH Act’s General Duty Clause, https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=3359&p_table=OSHACT, obliges employers to provide their employees with a workplace […]
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COVID-19 DISRUPTS WORKPLACES AND CONFRONTS EMPLOYERS WITH COMPLICATED LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW ISSUES
The COVID-19 Pandemic has forced employers to face public health, customer service, workforce, travel, and business disruptions in constantly evolving circumstances. Many of the decisions that employers must make on-the-fly create unintended consequences with serious labor and employment law liability issues. This blog will address employment discrimination and leave law-related issues raised by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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ILLINOIS LAW LEGALIZING CANNABIS FOR ADULTS IN THE NEW YEAR MAKES EMPLOYER DRUG TESTING AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR WORKPLACE MARIJUANA USE HAZY
I. Illinois’ New Law Legalizing Cannabis for Adults Authorizes Employers to Maintain Zero Tolerance or Drug Free Workplace Policies and to Conduct Drug Testing. The Illinois General Assembly enacted the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“Cannabis Act”) on May 31, 2019. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the bill into law on June 25, 2019. It takes […]
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EMPLOYERS MUST ACT NOW TO IMPLEMENT THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’S FINAL RULE UPDATING THE MINIMUM SALARY FOR WHITE COLLAR MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME EXEMPTIONS BY THE NEW YEAR
A. The Department of Labor Issued Its Final Rule on September 24, 2019. The Department of Labor (“Department”) issued a final rule revising the regulations interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA” or “Act”) on September 24, 2019. They set new and higher thresholds for both the minimum weekly equivalent salary level and the total […]
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Recent Missouri Supreme Court Opinion Upholds Legislative Amendment Process
Have you ever intently followed legislation that you supported—an education bill, for instance—only to find out that another education-related proposal you didn’t like had been added to the bill as an amendment? While this can be frustrating to the observing citizen, it certainly is not unusual and most often is appropriate under the Missouri state […]
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HOW TO MANAGE THE RISK OF UNFAIR COMPETITION BY FORMER EMPLOYEES
Employers face a known but largely unquantifiable risk when they give their employees access to their confidential or proprietary information, trade secrets, and customers. Some ignore these risks, hope for the best, and trust that they have hired only loyal, honest, and honorable workers. Such employers basically risk the loss of critical assets and the […]
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HOW TO MANAGE THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT’S EXEMPTION FOR OUTSIDE SALES REPRESENTATIVES
Most employers that pay their outside sales representatives on a commission basis do so because of long-established practices, rather than a sound understanding as to how the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA” or “Act”) impacts such a compensation practice. Generally, the Act requires employers to pay their non-exempt employees compensation at a rate equal or […]
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HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA DURING RECRUITING AND HIRING WITHOUT LIABILITY
Seven in ten Americans use social media, according to the Pew Research Center. They connect with one another, access content, share information, and entertain themselves through social media. When the Pew Research Center first surveyed the use of social media in 2005, only five percent of American adults used at least one form of social […]
