As Maryland businesses know, Governor Hogan signed an Executive Order closing all non-essential businesses to the general public at 5 p.m. Monday, March 23, 2020. His office has since provided three separate Interpretive Guidance memos, listing the types of businesses deemed essential. The latest Guidance also provides further information regarding what actions non-essential businesses can continue to engage in, as well as how to determine whether a business is essential or not.
Continue Reading Is Your Business “Essential”? More Guidance From Governor Hogan’s Office
Additional Guidance On Governor Hogan’s Shutdown Order
At 5:00 p.m. yesterday, March 23, 2020, Maryland Governor Hogan’s Executive Order closing all non-essential businesses to the general public took effect. The language of the Order was definitive, but the practical impact on businesses less so.
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Maryland Orders Closure of Non-Essential Business To The Public
Today, Governor Hogan announced an Executive Order, Number 20-03-23-01, closing all non-essential businesses to the general public at 5 p.m. today. Although this is not a “shelter-in-place” directive, Marylanders are urged to stay home. This directive does close retail establishments that were previously permitted to remain open under earlier executive orders.
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The Families First Coronavirus Response Act Has Been Signed Into Law– What This Means for Employers
On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act into law. This law makes sweeping changes to an employer’s legal obligations: (1) imposing a paid sick and safe leave (“PSL”) mandate for COVID-19-related reasons on most employers with fewer than 500 employees; (2) temporarily expanding coverage for school and child care closures associated with COVID-19 and imposing a paid leave requirement under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) on these same employers; (3) encouraging states to extend unemployment benefits for reasons associated with COVID-19; and (4) giving a payroll tax credit to employers for the paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave mandates.
While we had previously provided a summary of the Act as it was originally passed by the House, and then another on the House’s substantive “technical amendments” to the Act, we are now summarizing the final law here.Continue Reading The Families First Coronavirus Response Act Has Been Signed Into Law– What This Means for Employers
Extraordinary Employee Misconduct: FMLA Does Not Cover Travel to and from an NFL Game
This installment in our occasional series of extremely poor judgment by employees illustrates the point that social media has led to the downfall of many an FMLA abuser.
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The EEOC Weighs in on COVID-19
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has now directly addressed the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak by issuing “What You Should Know About the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and the Coronavirus.” In this release, the EEOC noted that the rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act (the counterpart to the ADA for federal employees and contractors) still apply, but do not interfere with workplace guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (which we discussed in detail in our February 2020 Top Tip).
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NLRB Issues Final Joint Employer Rule, Making Such Findings Less Likely
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) announced a Final Rule on joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act that retreats from the broad expansion of the joint employment principle in recent years and returns to its prior, more restrictive standard, which it describes as “carefully balanced.” This Rule will take effect on April 27, 2020.
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Must an Employer Pay for Medical Marijuana?
Apparently yes – at least in New Jersey. In Hager v. M&K Construction, a New Jersey state appellate court recently affirmed a workers’ compensation judge’s order for an employer to reimburse a former employee for his use of medical marijuana for chronic pain following a work-related accident.
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Methadone User Can Sue Under ADA
As I discussed in a blog post last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been bringing cases on behalf of applicants/employees who use lawfully prescribed opioids (including methadone) against employers who fail to conduct an individualized assessment of the applicant/employee to determine whether those drugs made them unqualified for the position. In EEOC v. Steel Painters LLC, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas held that a reasonable jury could find that the employer did just that.
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“[M]aintaining consciousness is a basic element of any job.”
And with that obvious (and rather snarky) statement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made the obvious point that an employee who was asleep or unconscious on the job was unable to perform the essential functions of his job and therefore not qualified for the position under the Americans with Disabilities Act! Now, as my regular readers know, I enjoy a good snark and my blog posts about various court decisions often contain snide comments. But in this case, the (usually quite proper) Fifth Circuit took care of that all on its own…
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