On May 19, 2020 OSHA issued an Enforcement Memorandum providing updated interim guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) regarding enforcing the requirements for recording of COVID-19 as an occupational illnesses.
Continue Reading OSHA Outlines Reporting Requirements for COVID-19 Incidents in the Workplace
MA Department of Paid Family and Medical Leave Issues First Round of Complex Regulations
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave has issued proposed regulations which are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2019.
Although some of the proposed regulations may change – and there is a push on by certain business groups to have the start date pushed to October – businesses are well advised to
The ABC’s of CBD
A majority of states now authorize the use of either medical or recreational marijuana, but it seems like CBD or cannabidiol is garnering as much attention as the stuff that actually causes the munchies. What is all the buzz about?
More Fathers Are Complaining About Discrimination In The Workplace
This week, The Boston Globe reported on a growing trend in the nation’s workplaces: more and more fathers are complaining that they are experiencing discrimination in the workplace because of their family obligations.
Continue Reading More Fathers Are Complaining About Discrimination In The Workplace
Uber Update: Kalanick Resigns as CEO
In follow up to my June 19, 2017 post regarding the trials and tribulations of the workplace culture (among other issues) at Uber, it now appears that the previously announced leave of absence of CEO Travis Kalanick is permanent. Kalanick, amid significant pressures from investors, has tendered his resignation. The embattled executive, still a major shareholder, will remain on the board of directors.
Continue Reading Uber Update: Kalanick Resigns as CEO
Mental Health and Disability in the Workplace
As an attorney who counsels employers through difficult personnel issues, I am often asked, sometimes even in general conversation, what issues are the “hottest” and most frequent I see in my practice. For the past several years, the task of integrating and returning disabled employees to the workplace is at the top of the list;
Two Weeks Into the Trump Administration: Where are we with Labor and Employment Regulations?
Typically with an incoming administration there is a waiting period of sorts before changes in pending and certainly existing regulations kick in. The current administration, however, appears to be working at an accelerated pace toward upending the status quo. So, it appears time for a quick check-in on where we are and what to expect.
On Inauguration day, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus Jan. 20 instructed federal agencies to freeze all pending regulations, a move that seems to include a number of labor and employment initiatives that were in the works under the Obama administration.
This type of freeze is not unusual when a new president takes office. An action of this nature does not necessarily mean that significant changes are coming, but given candidate Trump’s campaign promise to roll back regulation on business, we can at least predict that the administration will be in no rush to move on the pending matters.
Continue Reading Two Weeks Into the Trump Administration: Where are we with Labor and Employment Regulations?
First Circuit declines to enjoin enforcement of Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law in union settings … for now
Last week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the dismissal of a suit filed by construction-industry employers and their trade associations seeking to block enforcement of the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law in settings where
Recreational Pot Is Now Legal In Massachusetts. What Does That Mean For Employers?
Yesterday, with the approval of Question 4 by a 53.6% to 46.4% vote, Massachusetts joined a growing number of states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. What does this change in the law mean for Massachusetts employers?
The new
You’ve Come A Long Way Baby???? What Does Former Fox News Anchor Gretchen Carlson’s Lawsuit Tell Us About the State of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?
Former Fox News Anchor and commentator Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit against CEO Roger Ailes alleging that her contract was not renewed because she refused Ailes’ sexual advances. Carlson also alleged that the harassment she endured was severe and “very pervasive”, that Ailes repeatedly “injected sexual and/or sexist comments” into conversations and made