On Thursday, the IRS introduced certain criteria that, if satisfied, allow a small business to withdraw a prior claim for the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC). Certain businesses paying wages to employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing a “significant decline in gross receipts” were eligible to apply for the ERC.
Covid-19
EEOC Performance Report Shows Twenty Percent Increase in Employment Discrimination Charges for Fiscal Year 2022
On March 13, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released its Annual Report for fiscal year (“FY”) 2022, demonstrating a significant increase in the number of charges of discrimination filed with the agency, as well as emails and calls to the agency’s contact center, from the year prior.
A total of 73,485 new…
DOL Announces New Contractor Rule Proposal
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced today that it will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on October 13, 2022, in order “to help employers and workers determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.” This marks the Biden Administration’s second attempt to rescind the…
Employers Must Now Prove Covid Screening is a “Business Necessity”
Employers may no longer require Covid-19 testing for on-site employees across the board. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on July 12, 2022, that “going forward employers will need to assess whether current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances justify viral screening testing of employees to prevent workplace transmission of COVID-19.”
This means that…
Masks, Large Sums of Money, and a Runaway—Movie Plot or Post-COVID Jury Trials?
The post-pandemic era has brought about some of the largest jury verdicts seen to date. For example, just this month an Iowa jury awarded $97.4 million to a child and his family in a medical malpractice birth injury case. In Washington State, $185 million was awarded to three teachers who were exposed to long-lasting chemicals…
EEOC Says COVID-19 Can Be a Disability Under the ADA
Originally Posted on The Energy Law Blog
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced on December 14, 2021, that employees who contract COVID-19 may be protected from discrimination under federal law. This supplements previously issued guidance addressing when people with “long COVID” may be deemed disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
The…
Louisiana Supreme Court Relies on Employment-at-Will Doctrine in Enforcing Private Employer’s Vaccine Mandate
Originally Posted on The Energy Law Blog
On Friday, January 7, 2022, the Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously upheld a COVID-19 vaccine mandate program that the state’s largest private healthcare system implemented for its employees. Hayes, et al. v. University Health Shreveport, 21-01601 (La. 1/7/22). In doing so, the Court reaffirmed the employment-at-will doctrine, and…