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  • July 14, 2023

SUPREME COURT CLARIFIES STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER ACCOMODATION FOR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN THE WORKPLACE

The United States Supreme Court has issued a unanimous decision restating the standard for employers in their obligation to accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of its employees.  The new standard continues the Court’s expanded protection for religious freedom.   Groff v. DeJoy was decided by the Court on June 29, 2023.  Gerald Groff is an Evangelical Christian who believes for religious reasons that Sunday should be devoted to worship and rest.  He worked a mail delivery job for the United States Post Office, that had not involved Sunday work.  This changed when the USPS began to make Sunday deliveries…

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  • November 9, 2022

MARYLAND SAVES PROGRAM LAUNCHES — OFFERS FEE WAIVER FOR EMPLOYERS WHO REGISTER OR CERTIFY EXEMPT STATUS BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2022

On September 15, 2022, the MarylandSaves program launched state-wide. The program was established by the Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board following the passage of Senate Bill 1007 during the 2016 Regular Session of the Maryland General Assembly. This legislation added Title 12 to the Labor and Employment Article of the Maryland Code and tasked the Board with assisting employees who do not have access to an employer–offered savings arrangement to initiate an individual retirement account. Employers meeting the following criteria must provide employees with a state-sponsored retirement savings plan: Have at least one W-2 employee; Pay employees through a…

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  • April 27, 2022

MARYLAND PASSES “TIME TO CARE ACT” INTRODUCING PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

Maryland’s new law provides for paid family and medical leave through the creation of the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund. Subsidized by payroll tax, employees, self-employed individuals who elect to participate, and employers with fifteen (15) or more employees are required to begin contributing to the Fund on October 1, 2023. Benefits will be available to employees starting January 1, 2025. On April 9, 2022, the Maryland General Assembly passed SB 0275—the Time to Care Act of 2022 (“the TCA”).  The TCA creates the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program and the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund within…

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  • December 21, 2021

SIXTH CIRCUIT CLEARS OSHA EMPLOYER COVID MANDATE TO TAKE EFFECT

On December 17, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) that requires employers of 100 or more employees to determine the vaccination status of each employee, and for those employees who are not vaccinated to submit weekly proof of negative tests and wear a face mask at work.  Specific details on the ETS are in the Ferguson, Schetelich & Ballew Memorandum that immediately follows this article. This (commonly-called) Employer Mandate is an ETS originally issued by OSHA on November 5, 2021,…

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  • April 13, 2021

CAN EMPLOYERS REQUIRE EMPLOYEES TO BE VACCINATED FOR COVID-19?

With a nationwide vaccination program now a full go, businesses are looking forward to returning to pre-COVID work schedules. Many are considering whether they can (or should) require employees to be vaccinated as a condition of continued employment.  Employment law questions have been raised, given the legal protections of workers under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal laws. Historically, this is not a new issue.   In 1905, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upholding a state law that required a smallpox vaccine.  In 2009, both the EEOC and the Occupational Safety…

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  • January 19, 2021

BUSINESS INTERRUPTION COVERAGE IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Maryland small businesses have been hard hit by Covid-19 pandemic.  Executive orders on the State and local levels have mandated shutdowns or severe restrictions to deal with the public health emergency.  Many struggling businesses are looking to their business interruption insurance coverage as a way to survive.  Insurance carriers are carefully reviewing policies to see if payment is required.  The final disposition of the coverage question will be decided in the courts. To date, there are no reported Maryland cases that have dealt with the business interruption claims due to the pandemic, but the early indications are not favorable for…

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  • March 23, 2020

Employer Tax Credits Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

On March 18, 2020, Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, H.R. 6201 (Act). The Act, which goes into effect on April 2, 2020, responds to the novel coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak by providing paid sick leave and family leave to employees. The Act mandates government entities and employers with fewer than 500 workers, subject to certain exceptions and exemptions, to provide 80 hours of paid sick leave to all covered employees and up to 10 weeks of paid family leave for certain employees affected by COVID-19 who have worked at the…

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  • March 19, 2020

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Where it Stands Today

In this period of rapid change, few things are moving faster than the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). This federal legislation creates new sick leave benefits and temporarily expands the scope of the Family and Medical Leave Act to assist certain employees and their families confronting challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The FFCRA was passed by the House on March 14, amended by the House over the weekend, and then passed by the Senate yesterday evening. The President wasted no time and quickly signed it into law. With his signature, the legal obligations of many employers changed. Those…

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  • March 13, 2020

Legal Impact of Coronavirus on the Workplace

As the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across the U.S., employers are coming to grips with its effects on the workplace. The uncharted territory of the pandemic presents new challenges for employers. Health and safety are of foremost concern. When addressing those concerns, employers should remain conscious of their duties under various workplace laws. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 virus had reached pandemic levels. Why is this terminology important? Classification of the virus as a pandemic provides objective evidence from health authorities that the virus is at a level…

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  • September 3, 2019

New Maryland Employment Law Will Expand Employer Liablity for Workplace Harrassment.

Maryland’s new employee harassment law (HB 679) is set to become effective October 1, 2019.  The law dramatically expands the scope of actions that can be brought against employers, and (perhaps most importantly) is much broader than protections now available under Federal law. The new Maryland law covers harassment against workers based on race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.  It does not have a specific definition of “harassment,” but rather maintains the “judicially determined meaning” – which involves unwelcome behavior, comments, or actions that create a hostile or offensive working…

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