We are pleased to announce the release of the 2020 edition of our in-demand book, Cal-Peculiarities: How California Employment Law is Different. The book is available in a convenient, searchable eBook format. Click HERE to order your copy to be delivered via e-mail today! We also invite you to join us for a free webinar going over some of the biggest changes in the last year! The webinar will be on Thursday, May 28, 2020 with Seyfarth…

By Minh N. Vu and John W. Egan Seyfarth Synopsis: Reopening businesses need to carefully consider how social distancing and other Covid-19 mitigation measures will impact customers with disabilities and be prepared to make adjustments. Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the ways in which we use (or, more accurately, avoid) public accommodations spaces in recent months.  As businesses start to reopen in various parts of the country, they are implementing social distancing and…

By James L. Curtis, Mark A. Lies, II, Adam R. Young, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen Image from CDC.gov Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the President issued an Executive Order under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to protect the continued operation of the nation’s meat and poultry processors during the current COVID-19 emergency consistent with OSHA’s and the CDC’s joint guidance. OSHA will use discretion in enforcing the…

By Dianne Friedl and Steve Shardonofsky Seyfarth Synopsis: The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) just announced new guidelines allowing workers to retain unemployment benefits if they refuse suitable work for various COVID-19 related reasons. But the new rules do not require employers to keep those jobs open or reinstate workers when unemployment benefits run out. Under other federal or state laws, depending on the circumstances, Texans who choose to return to work may be entitled to…

By Mark L. Johnson, Mark A. Lies, II, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen Seyfarth Synopsis: After a Sangamon County Circuit Court temporarily blocked the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s (IWCC) emergency rule that created a rebuttable presumption that injured employees contracted COVID-19 at work, the IWCC repealed the emergency rules. Infectious diseases transmitted in the community typically are not compensable through the Illinois workers’ compensation system, unless the claimant can prove…

By: John T. Ayers-Mann and Robert A. Fisher Seyfarth Synopsis: With the advent of the CARES Act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has taken steps to implement Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a new measure aimed at providing unemployment insurance to gig economy workers and independent contractors typically ineligible for benefits. On Monday, the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance (“DUA”) announced that the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”)…