Robinson+Cole's Manufacturing Industry Group

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The patchwork of federal, state and local laws addressing leaves of absence, protections of people with disabilities and a manufacturer’s general obligation to provide a safe workplace come head-to-head with public reports of an evolving situation.  Right now, the CDC admits that “[m]uch is unknown about how the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads.”  Manufacturers should…

Our tradition includes using our first January post to make predictions about “what’s to come” in the year ahead. But first, let’s see how I did over the last year. “Time for 2019 Manufacturing Law Predictions: Drum Roll Please!” (Jan. 9, 2019).

I boldly predicted that on the federal level the government would…

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation released its Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report and, you guessed it, it was “un-good” (a legal term I think).  The Multiemployer Insurance Program recorded a record-breaking deficit of $65.2 billion.  The PBGC warned that the Multiemployer fund will likely be insolvent by 2025, within 6 years from today.  Without the…

A few months back, I posted some thoughts about recent efforts to legalize medical and recreational marijuana, with an emphasis on the potential issues such laws would have on manufacturers – particularly manufacturers in a space requiring a heightened concern for employee safety.  See “Legal Pot = Manufacturing Storm Clouds” (May 29, 2019). …

I have posted a few times here about using post-employment restrictions to preserve a manufacturer’s competitive advantage.  See  “Non-Compete Cautionary Tale” (Nov, 2, 2018); “I’m New – And It’s No [Trade] Secret” (Oct. 27, 2014) and “Even More Reason for Manufacturers to Update Their Employment Agreements” (June 15, 2015). …

[With apologies to the great Yogi Berra!]

Over the last three years, I have spent a good bit of space on this blog keeping manufacturers informed of the Department of Labor’s efforts to raise the wages of lower and middle level managerial employees and supervisors by raising the “salary threshold”.  See Blog posts of March…

This blog post is dedicated to those of you who took a heathy summer break and want to catch up on the summer’s major developments.  Let the speed reading begin!

As predicted here, the Trump Administration launched a series of not-so-surprising raids to arrest undocumented workers.  As of this writing, there has not…

I have just returned from my summer sojourn in the wilds of New England catching up on rest, relaxation and reported court decisions. (Yes, I embrace my inner nerd!) Two recent court decisions dealing with mandatory arbitration agreements caught my eye and highlight why some manufacturers may gain by requiring pre-dispute employment arbitration agreements.

In…

Concluding their 2019 legislative sessions, New York and Connecticut adopted sweeping new discrimination and harassment requirements — mandating additional training, expanding available remedies and making it easier for victims to obtain judicial relief.

New York

In June, the New York General Assembly adopted several significant changes to New York State’s anti-discrimination statute (known as the…