By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli After many revisions, the Rhode Island Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act (the “Sick Leave Law”) was signed into law last week. The basics are as follows: The law will go into effect July 1, 2018. The Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training will likely...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli The time has come for Massachusetts’ employers to start preparing for the implementation of the law entitled An Act to Establish Pay Equity (the “Law”) that will go into effect on July 1, 2018. The Law represents a significant change to the scope of legal obligations that...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli Marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and the use, sale and possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In recent years, however, a majority of states (at last count, 29 states and Washington, D.C.) have passed measures that decriminalize medical...
By Alicia J. Samolis Are you sleeping better knowing that you have purchased Employment Practices Liability Insurance (“EPLI”) to cover your company against employment claims? Well it may be time to wake up. Many employers have received rude awakenings about EPLI insurance in the past. Wage and hour claims are often not covered. Leave law...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Christopher M. Wildenhain Savvy employers always need to be on the look-out for ways to mitigate the ever-growing risks posed by increasingly burdensome state and federal employment laws. Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the chance to breathe new life into an old, but effective risk-mitigation tool...
By Alicia J. Samolis Earlier this year the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) published a new rule that attempts to shame employers into lowering workplace injuries and gives OSHA much broader discretion to regulate retaliation by employers. The rule’s new requirements take effect in the coming months. Changes to OSHA’s Recordkeeping Requirements Require Employers...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli After announcing preliminary proposed rulings in June of 2015, and then receiving over 270,000 comments, the Department announced its Final Rule and final revisions to the Act on May 18, 2016 . Most importantly: The revisions go into effect on December 1, 2016. The minimum salary needed...
By Alicia J. Samolis As seen in the May 4, 2016 edition of Law 360. The final rule implementing Executive Order 13665 (the Pay Transparency Act) went into effect on Jan. 11, 2016. The act prohibits employers from requiring their employees to keep their compensation confidential. Under the new rule, covered employers also can no longer...
As seen in the February 29, 2016 edition of the Providence Business News. With the close of the first quarter of 2016 on the horizon, employers tend to be in two camps with respect to their employee handbooks – those who have not revised their handbooks for 2016 and those who have. For those in the...
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli In June we alerted you to the fact that the Department of Labor (“DOL”) was planning to increase the minimum weekly salary an employee must be paid in order to qualify for an exemption from overtime. Since that time, the DOL has published a proposed rule increasing the...
