Archives of Newsletter Articles

The EEOC recently announced that a trucking business and its staffing agency willcollectively pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission (EEOC). The EEOC alleged that the companies violated federal law by subjecting African Americanemployees to racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Specifically, it argued thatAfrican American employees were subjected to […]

The EEOC recently provided guidance to employers, clearing up a few key questionsregarding vaccinations in the workplace. Can an employer require its employees to be vaccinated forCOVID-19? The federal equal employment opportunity laws do not prevent an employer from requiringemployees to be vaccinated for COVID-19, as long as the employer complies withreasonable accommodation requirements under […]

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) requires employers to subsidize 100 percent of the cost of premiums for COBRA continuation for eligible employees and their dependents from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. Since ARPA was signed into law, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional guidance to help employers navigate […]

Telemedicine in the United States has exploded over the last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey found that more than 60% of Americans had used telehealth, compared to a year earlier when just under 20% had. This has largely been due to federal policy changes, including non-penalties for HIPAA violations during telehealth visits […]

The Information Blocking Final Rule went into effect in April of 2021, requiringhealthcare providers to provide and share information upon the legitimate request ofa patient or other healthcare provider without unreasonable delay. What do healthcare providers need to know about informationblocking? The Information Blocking Final Rule is request driven—it has everything to do withresponding to […]

Earlier this month the results of a widely publicized unionization vote at a 6,000-person Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama were announced, with workers decisively voting against forming a union. Despite the loss, many experts believe that unionization in America is poised for a resurgence. The Biden administration has been openly sympathetic to unions and […]

In recent years, risk of website accessibility litigation has been on the rise. From 2017 to 2018, the number of federally filed website accessibility cases nearly tripled, from 815 to 2,285. In 2019, more than 3,200 cases were filed. The majority of these cases involve accessibility standards for the visually impaired – that is, courts […]

North Carolina has historically been one of the hungriest states in the U.S. Prior to the pandemic, Feeding America reported that 1,456,200 North Carolinians were struggling with hunger, including 443,040 children. That means 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 5 children were struggling with food insecurity. Since the pandemic began, the need has only […]

On January 6, 2021, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued long sought-after clarity on the legal distinction between independent contractors and employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule is scheduled to take effect on March 8, 2021.  The rule reaffirms the “economic reality” test to determine whether an individual is in […]

After delaying the opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection on May 8, 2020 in light of COVID-19, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection (EEO-1 Report) is on schedule to open in 2021. The EEO-1 Report is a compliance survey mandated by […]