On February 17, 2023, the Supreme Court of Illinois held claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) accrue on each and every scan or collection and further allowed so-called per scan damages. The ruling could open employers up to colossal and potentially devastating damages if
Archives for February 22, 2023
Oregon Legislature Proposes Significant Penalty Increases for Workplace Safety Violations
The Oregon Legislature, in response to concerns that the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) penalties were not sufficient, introduced legislation (Senate Bill (SB) 592) that would significantly increase the amounts of civil penalties for violations and allow Oregon OSHA to conduct in-depth, wall-to-wall inspections under certain circumstances.
California Legislature Serves Up Bill Proposing Joint Employer Liability For Fast Food Franchisors
With one day left to spare before the deadline to introduce new bills, on February 16, 2023, California Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-41) introduced Assembly Bill 1228, the “Fast Food Franchisor Responsibility Act.” This bill would, among other things, impose joint employer liability on fast food franchisors for the acts
Tesla Just Laid Off Workers That Voted to Unionize. Can Elon Musk Do That?
Elon Musk has been laying off people right and left-at Twitter, but this time, some laid-off employees were Telsa employees in Buffalo who had just voted to unionize.
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits companies from discriminating against employees who favor unionization, so how did
What Does the Supreme Court’s Decision Not to Review the Standard for Attorney-Client Privilege Mean for Employers?
As workplace issues have become more complex, human resource professionals and managers often turn to employment lawyers for advice in sorting out matters involving the interaction between business requirements and the requirements of employment laws and regulations. When is such advice protected from disclosure under the attorney-client privilege?
Revisiting Volks—Is OSHA Buying Itself More Time to Issue More Citations?
OSHA continues to target recordkeeping as a key area of concern, with the agency focused on the need for improvements in employer reporting of injury and illness data and potential changes with regard to how it applies the OSH Act’s six-month statute of limitations when issuing recordkeeping citations.
OMB Approves State Department Fee Increases
On February 15, 2023, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved a final rule that would increase certain U.S. Department of State fees for visa services. This is the final step prior to publication of the final rule. Once published, the final rule will likely become effective