
April 18th – April 22nd, 2022
Each week, you’ll find specially curated news articles to keep you up to date on the ever-evolving world of insurance and risk management. The articles are divided out between items relevant to Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits/Human Resources, and Compliance. We’ve included brief summaries of each item as well as a link to the original articles.
PROPERTY & CASUALTY
‘Zero-Day’ Hacks Hit Record in 2021, Google Researchers Say
“Hackers exploited a total of 58 zero-day flaws impacting major software providers in 2021, according to a report published April 19 by Google’s Project Zero, a team of elite bug hunters. That compares to 25 flaws in 2020 and 21 in 2019.” Full Article
– Insurance Journal
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, HUMAN RESOURCES, & COMPLIANCE
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Confirmed As Next SCOTUS Justice “On April 7, 2022, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the next term’s vacancy on the bench with Justice Stephen Breyer’s upcoming retirement. In an often- contentious confirmation process that included questions lobbed from Republican senators on Judge Jackson’s position on child pornography, critical race theory, court-packing, transgender rights, and her role as a public defender for Guantanamo Bay detainees, Jackson was confirmed 53-47 with bipartisan support.” Full Article – Littler Mendelson
Paying Employees In Cryptocurrency: Is That lawful? “In recent years, more consumers, merchants, and financial institutions have accepted cryptocurrency as a form of payment for everyday products and services. Last November, mayors of two major U.S. cities signaled what may be the next phase of cryptocurrency’s melding into the mundane, when they announced they would accept paychecks in cryptocurrency. On Twitter, Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami said he would accept his next paycheck in Bitcoin, to which Mayor Eric Adams of New York responded that he would accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin.” Full Article – Morrison Foerster
NLRB GC Seeks Dramatic Change To Employer’s Right To Speak To Employees About Unionization At Work “For decades, employers had been free to gather employees to discuss – in a non-coercive manner – the employer’s views on unionization, and had been free to share with employees what employees’ rights were with respect to the same. Earlier today, the NLRB General Counsel issued a memorandum declaring her intent to attempt to overturn this nearly 75 years of National Labor Relations Board precedent regarding an employer’s ability to speak to employees. In GC Memorandum 22-04, issued on April 7, 2022, argues that mandatory “captive audience” meetings and even simple one-on-one conversations during work are unlawfully coercive.” Full Article – Proskauer Rose LLP
Although Regular Attendance May Be an Essential Function, Leave May Still Be Required “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected an employer’s argument that the employee was unable to perform any of her essential job functions, including attendance, as of the date of her termination, and was therefore not entitled to the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As the Sixth Circuit noted, “To accept [the employer]’s supposed rule, an employee requesting medical leave could always be terminated if she were unable to work at the time of her request. But that cannot be the case because … medical leave can constitute a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.” Full Article – Shawe Rosenthal
Federal Court Dismisses Disability Discrimination Suit Based On Employee’s CBD Use “A federal court in Indiana dismissed an employee’s lawsuit after he tested positive for marijuana due to alleged CBD use and claimed that his termination was discriminatory on the basis of a disability. Rocchio v. E&B Paving, LLC, and Int’l Union of Operating Engineers Local 103, Case No. 1:20-cv-00417 (S.D. Indiana March 31, 2022).” Full Article – Jackson Lewis
Sick Of State And Local Paid Sick Leave “For employers with employees in multiple states or cities, designing a uniform paid sick leave policy that treats all employees equally is often the hardest part of updating an employee handbook. State and local paid sick leave laws often have different eligibility, accrual, usage, notice, and carryover requirements. Currently, about twenty-two states have a paid sick leave requirement. In addition, various cities and towns within these same states may have their own paid sick leave requirements.” Full Article – Masuda Funai Eifert & Mitchell Ltd
STATE & INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE
In addition to the RISQ Review, RISQ Consulting also provides a resource that features changes and updates to State and International Compliance measures. We’ve included brief summaries of each item below, and also provided links to the original articles if you’d like to read further.
Washington
Washington Revises Its Pay Transparency Law to Require Proactive Salary Disclosure
“Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill (SB) 5761, updating Washington’s existing pay transparency law. Previously, after an employer made an initial job offer to an external applicant, the employer was required to provide the minimum wage or salary to the applicant if the applicant requested the information. Under the revised law, an applicant’s request is no longer required.” Full Article
– Jackson Lewis
Massachusetts
Don’t Be Late on Wage Payments To Terminated Employees In Massachusetts
“The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a surprising decision on April 4, holding that an employer is strictly liable for treble damages if it fails to make timely wage payments, regardless of whether the employer remedies the violation prior to the employee asserting a wage claim.” Full Article
– Day Pitney
New York
New York City Issues Guidance on Required Salary Disclosures In Job Postings
“A new “NYC Salary Disclosure Law” will soon require employers to include a good faith salary range for every job, promotion, or transfer opportunity advertised. While the NYC Salary Disclosure Law is scheduled to take effect on May 15, 2022, it may now be pushed out to November 1, 2022 due to a recently introduced bill that would amend the new law, including the effective date.” Full Article
– Goodwin Procter
Ohio
New Ohio Law Revamps the Landscape of Overtime Exemptions and Collective Action Procedures
“On Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 47 (“SB 47”) into law, signaling significant changes to overtime exemptions in the state and restructuring the procedure by which an employee may join a collective action for alleged state overtime violations.” Full Article
– Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP
D.C.
D.C.’s Noncompete Ban Is Delayed Until October 1, 2022
“The District of Columbia passed arguably one of the most sweeping non- compete bans in the country. In order to consider some amendments to address serious concerns from the business community, however, the effective date of this law was previously delayed until April 1, 2022 and, as the amendments are still pending, now has been further delayed until October 1, 2022.” Full Article
– Shawe Rosenthal