By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli Employers with 100 or more employees can breathe a sigh of relief as the United States Supreme Court has come to the rescue and blocked the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) put in place by OSHA. How Did We Get Here? On November 5, 2021, OSHA published the...
Minimum Wage Increase As set forth by legislation passed in 2018, the minimum wage in Massachusetts will increase to $14.25 per hour on January 1, 2022. This amounts to a 75-cent jump from the current minimum wage of $13.50 per hour and is the second to last scheduled increase under current law. The minimum wage...
By Alicia J. Samolis OSHA has released its over 400-page rule for private employers with more than 100 employees to test their unvaccinated workers (click here for summary). The compliance date for the major part of the rule is January 4, 2022, with some other components effective December 5, 2021. The rule does not require...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli On September 9th, the President announced a COVID-19 Action Plan (the “Plan”) and released two orders that contain surprisingly broad measures. The Plan will impact many businesses and organizations across the nation. Of particular note is: 1. Large Private Employer Testing Mandate. According to the announcement (no...
By Alicia J. Samolis PS&H partner Alicia Samolis was one of the employer-side attorneys who recently weighed in on the new Rhode Island pay equity law to Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly. Alicia first advised that “[a]s a conceptual matter, don’t think of this as a discrimination law. Forget about ‘protected class’ status. Every single employee is...
On July 6, 2021, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee signed Pay Equity legislation (the “Act”) (H 5261A, S 0270A) into law. The Act is a broad piece of legislation that applies to all employers. While the Act does not go into effect until January 1, 2023, given the penalties and damages available under the Act, and the...
By Michael Gamboli and John Ottaviani A recent United States Supreme Court decision has limited the claims that an employer could assert against departing employees who steal trade secrets and confidential information from the employer’s computer systems. Background. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) is a federal law that makes it a crime for a person to:...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli Governor Baker has signed a mandatory emergency paid sick leave law (“EPSL”) requiring that every Massachusetts employer provide up to 40 hours of paid leave to employees for certain reasons relating to COVID-19. The payment to employees – including the cost of benefits – does not have...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli On May 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service published guidance in the form of a series of 86 questions and answers (“FAQ”) that address the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021’s (“ARPA”) continuation health coverage in the form of “COBRA premium assistance” under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The reach of the ARPA extends far and wide, including to healthcare coverage available to employees and their families following separation of employment under certain...
