Under Michigan’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (“MiOSHA”), employers may not “discharge an employee or in any manner discriminate against an employee because the employee filed a complaint” regarding the employer’s unsafe working conditions, among other things. MCL 408.1065(1). Any employee who “believes that he or she was discharged or otherwise discriminated against by a …
Federal Judge Sets Aside the FTC’s Noncompete Ban
Not so fast and not so final – for now. On August 20, 2024, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas sided with a plaintiff group comprised of a limited liability company, a coalition of various business groups, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and set …
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Michigan Employers Must Increase Sick Time and Minimum Wage by February 21, 2025
The game of legal whiplash is over – Michigan employers (and employment lawyers) now know that the Earned Sick Time Act and Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, as originally proposed, will go into effect on February 21, 2025. How did we get here? In an opinion issued on July 31, 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court …
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What Ohio Employers Need to Know As Legal Marijuana Sales Begin
Ohio employers will soon see their employees be able to purchase recreational marijuana when dispensaries open in the coming weeks. Ohio’s recreational marijuana program stems from a 2023 citizen-driven campaign to create a program that allows all Ohioans over 21 years of age to purchase marijuana without needing a doctor’s recommendation first. That initiative, known …
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Are You Ready? FLSA Salary Thresholds Increase July 1, 2024
On July 1, 2024, the Department of Labor’s rule raising the salary threshold for workers to be exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act becomes effective. Labor lawyers and HR professionals have long expected, consistent with history, that a court would enjoin the DOL’s new rule (the fluidly named “Defining and …
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The Top Affordable Care Act Reporting Mistakes We Continue to See in 2024
Nearly once a week, I receive a frantic call or email from a current or potential client who has received a proposed or final assessment from the IRS related to Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) reporting. So-called “Applicable Large Employers” (“ALEs”) with 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees have been required to annually report …
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Remote Employees Participating in Employee Benefit Plans – What’s Local Law Got to Do with It?
Recently, a client called about a remote employee who was moving from the company’s primary location to a different state, and would continue working for the company. The company had no other employees in the new state and the client wanted to know if the employee’s new state residence might affect the company’s 401(k) retirement …
FTC Declares Employees Free from Most Noncompetes, But How Far Does the Ban Go and Will It Last?
During an Open Commission Meeting on April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2 in favor of issuing the Noncompete Clause Rule (the “Final Rule”), which, with limited exceptions, makes it unlawful to enter into noncompete agreements with workers[1] on or after the Final Rule’s effective date, which is 120 days after its publication …
Why Establish a Fiduciary Committee for Welfare Benefit Plans?
Many plan sponsors have read about the lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson alleging that it breached its fiduciary duties with regard to the prescription drug component of its group health plan, causing participants to “overpay” for their prescriptions. Lewandowski v. Johnson & Johnson (Case No. 1:2024cv00671), filed February 5, 2024, in the federal district …
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Title IX Update
It is now spring, and if you are an educational entity, it is now the season to begin preparations for summer professional development for the upcoming school year. So you may be wondering: 1) What is going on with Title IX? 2) Are we still following the regulations that were released in 2020? 3) What …