On May 5, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act, which imposes stringent new workplace safety requirements for all employers in New York. The law is expected to take effect on June 4, 2021.
On April 16, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 93 into law, a rehiring and retention law which requires employers in certain industries to make written job offers to employees who were laid off because of the impact of COVID-19. The law takes immediate effect and will remain in effect until December 31, 2024. Previously, some California cities adopted their own versions of local ordinances providing for a right to be recalled, including Carlsbad, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pasadena, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara.
Employers have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and how to update their employment policies. In this video, McDermott partners, Chris Braham, Chris Foster and Michelle Strowhiro answer questions about vaccine requirements in the workforce, additional considerations and more.
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts, high-deductible health plans and excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements for 2022. Some of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2021 will change for 2022.
Long considered controversial from economic and shareholder perspectives, living wage concepts are receiving more attention in the context of economic policy, social responsibility and ESG investing. As progressive perspectives concerning income equality, and executive and employee compensation, are becoming more mainstream, corporate leaders should prepare for greater engagement in this important conversation.
COVID-19 served as a major pivot event for the adoption of virtual healthcare solutions. As stay-at-home orders swept the country and the pandemic forced physical isolation, telehealth tools were rapidly rolled out to safely provide necessary services. The reality on the ground forced overnight adoption of virtual care services that otherwise likely would have plodded along for decades.
Last month, McDermott partner Jeffrey M. Holdvogt was a speaker at the ERIC March Financial Wellness Huddle on the topic of Recent Developments in Employer Student Loan Repayment Benefits. His presentation covered:
The combination of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the imminent end of the Brexit transition period means a fast-changing regulatory environment for medicines.
In October 2020, the UK Government made changes to the regulation of medicines for COVID-19 and influenza. The regulations set out changes for the temporary authorisation of medicines (including COVID-19 vaccines) and allow the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to set conditions for that authorisation.
The federal government has taken major steps to boost insurers’ coverage of mental health and substance abuse treatment in recent years, and with the confirmation of former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that trend will likely continue.
As teleworking evolves from necessity to norm, companies with long-term remote workers abroad are facing the expiration of countries’ taxation grace periods—offered at the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic—and, in their place, potentially nebulous cross-border tax complications.
In a recent article for Law360, McDermott partner David Noren discusses employer tax considerations related to remote workforces.
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