Last year, California passed the COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law (SPSL), requiring employers with more than 25 employees to provide supplemental paid sick leave for certain absences related to COVID-19. Intended as a temporary measure, the law expired on September 30, 2021. However, given the pandemic’s continued impact, SPSL was recently revived as Senate Bill 114 and signed back into law (2022 SPSL) by Governor Gavin Newsom on February 9, 2022, with a few notable changes from last year.  

In an effort to achieve greater pay equity, New York City is following a growing legislative trend by enacting a new salary transparency law. Last December, the New York City Council passed a bill, amending the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) by requiring New York City employers to include minimum and maximum salary information in job postings for positions located within New York City. The bill lapsed into law on January 15, 2022 and goes into effect on May 15, 2022.

You’ve decided to form a limited liability company (LLC) for your new business venture - congratulations. Now you must make a few key decisions about the LLC, such as choosing the state of formation and filing to register your entity. As we discussed in an earlier post, another basic step in the formation process is drafting an operating agreement (also known as an LLC agreement) which will include important provisions relating to the management and ownership of the business.

Biden Administration rescinds travel ban for Southern African countries. COVID testing/proof of recent recovery still required for all U.S.-bound air travelers, regardless of citizenship.

Resolutions for the new year are typically serious and focused on important areas of our lives, such a health, exercise, career development, and being better organized

Although these are all noble initiatives, laughing more often also can improve the start of the new year. As ee cummings said: “ The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”

Those of a certain age remember the rallying cry when MTV launched. The cable channel would go on to change the music business. Only time will tell whether NFTs will change the art world; but it is worth examining at least one misconception that some people may have about NFT ownership.

A recent District of Columbia (D.C.) law offers employees of private employers in D.C. paid time off for COVID-19 vaccination-related leave, and provides unpaid COVID-19-related leave to eligible employees of employers with 20 or more employees in D.C. The COVID Vaccination Leave Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (the Act) amends two existing leave laws: the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 (ASSLA) and the D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act (DCFMLA). Although the Act is currently in effect only until February 18, 2021, the D.C. Council will likely extend it.

Most commercial contracts include defined terms to improve readability and reduce ambiguity. In some cases, however, those definitions do not receive the same scrutiny as other clauses and their application throughout the rest of the agreement can be overlooked. For example, when a party to a contract is defined “together with its affiliates,” the language may seem innocuous, but this linking of entities significantly impacts the nature of the contract and can result in a host of unanticipated risks and liabilities not only for the contracting entities but for those unnamed entities who may be inadvertently bound to a contract to which they are not even aware they are a party.