As employers have been working through post-pandemic office reopening plans, those with employees in New York must be mindful of additional issues and compliance obligations. In May, Governor Cuomo signed into law the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act”), which amended NY Labor Law to codify extensive health and safety directives. This law applies to all private employers with at least one employee at any worksite located in New York, unless already covered by federal OSHA’s emergency temporary standard for COVID-19.

When licensed software lies at the heart of a product or service, the licensee must consider how its business could be impacted in the event access to the software is suddenly disrupted (i.e., the licensor goes out of business). In some cases, the licensee’s contingency plan may include exercising a negotiated option to purchase a license to the software’s source code directly from the licensor; or if the software is easily replaced, finding an alternate vendor. When a source code license is not available and/or the software is not easily replaced, however, the licensee often considers a source code escrow arrangement.

The General Date Protection Regulation (GDPR) made its debut on the global privacy stage in 2018, and now, three years later, most U.S. companies doing business in the EU are well-aware of the regulation’s main provisions and their daily operational impact. However, the GDPR’s rules are expansive; and as a result, some of its “lesser known” articles have been overlooked by a number of smaller companies with limited in-house privacy resources.

At long last, the new standard contractual clause (SCCs) are here!

Recently, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law House Bill No. 6380, “An Act Concerning the Disclosure of Salary Range for a Vacant Position,” (the Act). The Act amends the state’s current pay equity laws by requiring Connecticut employers to disclose the wage range of vacant positions to applicants and current employees and by modifying the prohibition against sex-based compensation discrimination. The Act goes into effect on October 1, 2021.

As discussed in an earlier post, adopting a mandatory vaccination policy for employees is not a simple decision. Among the many factors to consider is the potential risk of legal action arising under federal laws such as the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) or the National Labor Relations Act, as well as state-law challenges alleging public policy violations or wrongful termination of employment. Recently, some employers have decided to require COVID vaccines for employees, citing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Updated Guidance in support of this policy.  Many other employers are still considering how to proceed. Despite the EEOC’s position that an employer may enact a mandatory vaccination policy for all of its employees physically entering the workplace, mandatory vaccine policies are not without risk of unintended, negative consequences for the organization.

On May 28, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a new law providing job- protected, emergency paid sick leave for COVID-related illness, quarantine and vaccinations (“COVID-19 Sick Leave”) for all employees in the Commonwealth.

We’ve all heard stories about lavish closing dinners (perhaps you’ve attended one or more), where the completion of large corporate transactions are celebrated over dinner, drinks and token gifts of appreciation. Yet, even the execution of a small commercial agreement can be cause for raising a glass or simply breathing a deep sigh of relief. Hard work deserves a moment of pause. However, once the ink has dried on a newly-executed agreement and the party is over, what happens (or should happen) next? Placing the agreement into a neat, three-ring binder may feel organized, but it will not ensure performance under the agreement.