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UPDATE:  On May 5th, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed the legislation into law.  The law will go into effect on June 4, 2021.

On April 21, 2021, both houses of the New York Legislature announced passage of the NY Hero Act, which will require employers to implement extensive new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Cuomo is expected to sign the Act into law in the coming weeks.

The NY Hero Act will go into effect 30 days after the Governor signs it into law. When it does, all New York employers, regardless of size, will need to take action to comply with the new obligations that this law will impose.

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Continue Reading New York set to require new workplace health and safety protections

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued revised guidance in the form of three new Q&As on its website further clarifying when employers must inform OSHA if employees are hospitalized or die due to COVID-19.

By way of background, any on-the-job illness or injury that leads to hospitalization must be reported by…

A new D.C. emergency law titled “Protecting Businesses and Workers from COVID-19 Emergency Amendment Act of 2020” (Act), signed by the Mayor on August 13, 2020, requires all private employers and D.C. agencies to take measures to protect workers from COVID-19 transmission. The Act requires employers immediately to adopt and implement worker protection policies related…

Effective July 27, 2020, Virginia employers must comply with new COVID-19 workplace safety standards, known as the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The ETS applies to all employers subject to the jurisdiction of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Program, which includes virtually all private and non-federal public employers in the…

After several weeks of discussion, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board (Board) on July 15, 2020 adopted the nation’s first workplace safety standards designed to establish requirements for employers to control, prevent, and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. At this time, the text of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) has not been finalized; however,…

On May 6, 2020, Governor Newsom enacted executive order N-62-20 (the Order), substantially expanding the availability of workers compensation to employees that contract COVID-19.[1]

Under California’s existing workers’ compensation system, for an injury to be covered by workers’ compensation, the death, illness or injury must “arise out of employment” or occur “during the course of employment.”…
Continue Reading Workers’ compensation now presumptively applies to employee COVID-19 claims in California

Last week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an amendment to the New Jersey WARN Act, dramatically expanding the Act’s reach.  Effective July 19, 2020, the amendment makes the Act one of the most stringent state WARN acts in the country.

Here are the key changes:

  1. WARN is now triggered by any termination of 50

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As sophisticated employers know, an employer must track and comply with developments not only in federal law, but also state and local law. This blog post details key changes in employment laws in the District of Columbia in 2019, as well as upcoming changes in 2020, including changes to paid family leave and minimum wages.…

Effective January 1, 2018, the California Immigrant Worker Protection Act (the “Act”) requires private and public employers to “resist” informal worksite inspections by federal immigration enforcement agents. This new California law puts employers between the proverbial rock and a hard place by imposing significant fines (penalties between $2,000 and $10,000 per violation) on employers or…