Effective September 30, the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (NYSPSL Law) and amendments to the New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law (NYCPSL Law) became effective requiring implementation of new leave accrual, record-keeping and reporting obligations.  Manufacturers with operations in New York State or New York City may need to

On Friday, September 11, the U.S. DOL issued revised regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”).  Responding to a Federal Court’s August 4 decision invalidating four provisions in the prior regulations (see Post here), the Revised Regulations become effective September 16 and will sunset on December 31, 2020.

Adopted with lightning speed in

On July 10, 2020, a New York State Supreme Court Judge issued a surprising decision finding that not only did a private arbitration agreement not bar a plaintiff’s court complaint, but that a company policy amended the parties’ previously executed employment agreement.  The decision, Newton v. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc., Index No.

This is the second of two posts dedicated to reopening plans for manufacturers.  In the first post on May 26, I addressed the first two questions which every manufacturer may wish to ask as it forms its reopening plans.  Manufacturing;  Back to Business (Part One) (May 26, 2020).  Here, I address the next four questions.

The disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic stressed the entire manufacturing sector.  For the most part, manufacturers responded to those challenges quickly and responsibly.  Now that every state has begun reopening, the manufacturing sector will once again be called on to lead.  Manufacturers which respond well to those challenges will thrive in the months ahead.

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). 

[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