On Monday, June 15, 2020, the US Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender, gay and lesbian employees (and prospective employees) from workplace discrimination based on sex. This means that the protective authority of Title VII for LGBTQ individuals generally extends to employer-sponsored healthcare benefits.
Employers are poised to collect health data from their workforces daily as they adopt temperature checks and other screening protocols to fight the coronavirus, triggering concerns about workers’ privacy and whether the practices will continue beyond the pandemic.
“The temperature checks give employees and customers the feeling of safety and the idea that the company is doing everything possible, even if the screenings don’t protect the workplace,” said Michael Sheehan, a partner with McDermott Will & Emery, in a recent Bloomberg Law article.
In the UK, changes in restrictions will see non-essential shops opening and many workers hesitantly going back into offices even though they could work from home. Government focus has therefore started to shift to the “re-opening” of business.
With rapid developments in local, state and federal guidance and law, the appropriate approach for each employer in relation to COVID-19 will vary depending on the nature of their work, the industries served and their location and size, among other considerations. This article outlines what employers need to know about employees experiencing symptoms and employee absences.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented strain on organizations of all sizes across all industries. The uncertainty of the “new normal” is leading some employers to consider extreme, and often unnecessary, new policies in anticipation of the eventual return to work. To properly navigate the complexities of these novel COVID-19 employment issues, you need innovative but practical solutions.
Learn key takeaways from our third webinar in our Return to Work Virtual Toolkit series that focuses on how to avoid legal landmines as you prepare to bring your employees back to work.
The federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program extends relief to workers and employees who don’t have access to state benefits, but it will almost certainly put pressure on gig economy companies to start paying into state unemployment insurance funds as government resources continue to diminish due to COVID-19, attorneys say.
Michelle S. Strowhiro, partner at McDermott Will & Emery, said, “To the extent that, post-COVID, we want to maintain unemployment benefits for those traditionally not eligible, … we’d have to contemplate a way that additional funding could be accessed for the long term.”
A bill titled Jumpstarting Our Businesses’ Success Credit Act of 2020, which would make significant changes to the employee retention tax credits available under the CARES Act, is currently under consideration in the US House of Representatives. In this article, we outline the proposed changes, which are generally designed to increase the availability, scope and amount of the credits.
Most states have issued some form of ‘shelter in place’ or ‘stay at home’ order to flatten the curve of COVID-19. As a result, many business operations have been temporarily suspended, unless the business is engaged in essential or critical infrastructure functions or supports businesses engaged in such functions.
For businesses that are considered ‘essential’ and have employees still reporting to work, what steps can employers take to keep their workplace healthy and safe?
In recognition of the difficulties faced by retirement plan sponsors, participants and beneficiaries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new guidance extends the deadlines for notices and disclosures required by Title I of ERISA and extends deadlines for retirement plan participants and beneficiaries to submit benefit claims and benefit appeals. The new guidance also provides some welcome fiduciary relief for electronic disclosures, incomplete plan loan or distribution documentation, as well as delayed participant contributions and loan repayments.
The US tax rules governing the taxation of equity awards for globally mobile employees are complex and in some cases, uncertain. Among other things, employers must consider the type of award, grant and vesting dates, and sourcing rules to ensure proper reporting and withholding for non-US employees that have worked in the United States. The travel restrictions have caused US multinational businesses to review their existing processes for how they compute and report taxable income for non-US employees working in the United States, especially with regard to vesting of equity arrangements.
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