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
Takeaways from Our Conversation on Cannabis Price Volatility in 2023
“Volatile cannabis flower prices in states with developed cannabis programs will impact insurance buying, while capacity will still be a challenge in 2023. Those were among the forecasts for the year from three subject matter experts. For our latest podcast we interviewed Roy Bingham, CEO of cannabis data provider BDSA, Jay Virdi, chief sales officer for Hub International’s cannabis specialty practice, and Charles Pyfrom, chief marketing officer at CannGen Insurance Services. Following are takeaways from that conversation. “I think the continuation of the price compression that we’ve seen in the last 12 months is going to be felt by everybody,” Bingham said. He said average retail prices in the big, mature markets in the Western U.S., such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon declined 10% or more. “It’s all been driven by price reductions, and those markets, of course, are still about two-thirds of the national scene,” he said. “Prices are just decreasing at a rate, uh, that is greater than the incremental gain in units being sold.”” Full Article
– Insurance Journal
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, HUMAN RESOURCES, & COMPLIANCE
What’s in Store for the Next Four Years? The EEOC’s Strategic Plan “In its draft EEOC Strategic Plan 2022- 2026 (released November 4, 2022), the agency sets forth 3 overarching goals and 15 identified performance measures for the purpose of achieving those goals.” Full Article – Akerman LLP
Wage Transparency Laws Create Labor Cert. Hurdles “Varying in scope, these laws will likely change the permanent labor certification, or PERM, process required for certain employer-sponsored foreign nationals and will require employers to consider their job advertisement strategy for PERM positions nationally.” Full Article – Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
An Employee “on Thin Ice” Cannot Insulate Herself with the FMLA “The Family and Medical Leave Act protects the use of qualifying leave for an employee’s (or their family member’s) serious health condition – but does not insulate the employee from all attendance and performance issues, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently reminded employers.” Full Article – Shawe Rosenthal LLP
Oh Baby, Baby: New Laws Protecting Pregnant and Breastfeeding Employees “Effective December 29, 2022, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, also known as The PUMP Act, expanded protections for breastfeeding mothers and, effective June 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) will provide new protections for pregnant employees.” Full Article – Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
A Deeper Dive into FTC’s Proposed Non-Compete Rule “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that, if made final, would (at least on its face) effectively prohibit non-compete agreements other than in very limited circumstances. The proposed rule, which would supersede all contrary state laws, is remarkable for its sweeping definition of “non-compete clauses” that fall within the ban.” Full Article – Jackson Lewis P.C
From Snowmageddon to Snowpocalypse: OSHA Highlights Potential Winter Weather Hazards “Employers must remember that weather-based hazards exist not only in the heat and humidity of summer, but also in the dead of winter. OSHA has reminded employers of their duties to plan, equip, and train their workers for jobs impacted by winter weather in an effort to “[p]revent injuries, illnesses, and fatalities during winter storms.” Full Article – Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: New Jersey Implements Long-Delayed Landmark WARN law “On January 10, 2023, Governor Philip D. Murphy signed into law S3162/ A4768, which makes the 2020 amendments to NJ WARN effective 90 days from his signature, irrespective of whether a State of Emergency still exists.” Full Article – Littler Mendelson P.C.NEW JERSEY
Challenges and Opportunities in California’s New Pay Transparency Rules “California’s new pay transparency rules generally fall into three disclosure categories: job-posting requirements, pay scale requests and pay data disclosures. For new hire job postings, employers with 15 or more employees must disclose the reasonably expected pay scale, both for salaried and hourly employees.” Full Article – Duane Morris LLPCALIFORNIA
New York Requires Employers to Provide Electronic Versions of Mandatory Workplace Postings “Before the amendment, the law required that certain legal notices be posted conspicuously in the workplace. Now, employers must also make digital versions of the physical notices available, either on the employer’s website or via email.” Full Article – Cooley LLPNEW YORK
Maryland Expands the Scope of Conduct that Constitutes Sexual Harassment in the Workplace “Recently, Maryland Senate Bill 450 (SB 450) went into effect, revising the definition of sexual harassment in the workplace by changing the standard of sexual harassment from “severe or pervasive” conduct to the “totality of the circumstances” in sexual harassment cases.” Full Article – Shulman RogersMARYLAND
Illinois Legislature Passes Paid Leave for All Workers Act “On January 10, 2023, the Illinois Legislature passed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (“Act”), which Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has also announced his intention to sign. The Act will take effect on January 1, 2024, and it provides nearly all Illinois workers with a minimum of forty (40) hours, or a pro-rated number of hours, of paid leave during a designated 12-month period.” Full Article – Thompson Hine LLPILLINOIS
Subscribe to the RISQ Recap, a weekly post to help you stay up to date on news articles and resources for your organization’s compliance needs.