During the pending COVID-19 crisis, many employers are considering layoffs to make sure they can keep their companies afloat. However, because the duration of the crisis is unknown and may be temporary, employers may wish to consider other cost-saving measures that are designed to be temporary and reversible in the event that the economy bounces back sooner rather than later. This article will address some of the cost-cutting strategies that Massachusetts employers can use in lieu of layoffs which will ensure that employers have an available workforce to call upon once business rebounds, and also save jobs.  

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which will go into effect on April 1, 2020, provides Coronavirus-related emergency paid sick leave and emergency family and medical care leave to eligible employees.  Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a “Questions and Answers” to address some preliminary questions related to the new FFCRA.  Earlier today, the DOL published a workplace poster which covered employers must distribute to current employees.  The posting requirement may be met by emailing or direct mailing this notice to employees, posting the notice on an internal or external website, or by physically posting the notice in a conspicuous place on the premises. 

In this new reality, which I (not so fondly) refer to as “quarantine-ville,” most workers have been mandated to work from home. For the lawyers of Outside GC and Patent GC, working from home is a core element of our business model; but for most, this arrangement is brand new territory. Since we’ve been doing this with great success for the past 18 years, we’d like to share some tips to help improve your productivity, and perhaps more importantly, help keep you sane.

In this ACC Docket article, Washington D.C.-based member Lakshmi Sarma Ramani reviews 3 issues that nonprofit organizations should consider when conducting internal investigations of claims that could lead to potential litigation.

Public health officers in seven counties of the San Francisco Bay Area issued orders on March 16, 2020 directing residents to shelter in place for three weeks and avoid all non-essential travel and business activities to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus as much as possible. The orders take effect at midnight on March 17, 2020 and are scheduled to last through April 7, 2020 unless otherwise modified.

Since the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency in January, there have been more than 105,000 confirmed cases in more than 100 countries, with the majority in China, which has reported nearly 81,000 confirmed cases. In the U.S., as of March 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed more than 150 cases and eleven deaths across more than a dozen states.  

When you are a vendor providing goods/services to a customer, the most critical issues in a SOW are those relating to the description of services, payment, and the terms of acceptance. These provisions should be written with clarity and specificity. The remainder of the terms, while important, do not require the same level of detail. To help guide the providing party in its review or preparation of a SOW, consider the following: 

As discussed in Part 1, a SOW should tell a story with enough detail that a person who is unfamiliar with the deal could rely on it to understand the intentions of the parties, including such key terms as products/services, deliverables and pricing.