Non-compete covenants in physician employment and shareholder agreements are common practice. Whether they are legally enforceable as drafted varies from state to state. Some states have broad interpretations of reasonableness — and there’s a growing trend to disallow these types of agreements completely.  On this episode of We get work™ we explore how hospital systems and medical groups can protect their goodwill and legitimate business interests.

Prevention Against Physician Non-compete Agreements

When it comes to consolidations and restructurings, in-house counsel and the corporate law firms that support them have competing priorities to further a company's business objectives and mitigate legal risk. Labor and employment considerations are equally critical to a successful transaction. On this episode, we discuss the intricacies of employment law and the relevance of related issues that often arise during a corporate transaction.

Corporate Transactions and Workplace Law: An Indispensable Alliance

While June is a month to celebrate our Pride, it is also a time to reflect on the importance of coming out in the workplace and how all employees have a critical role to play as allies to LGBTQ staff, clients and community. On this episode of We get work™, we will explore coming out in the workplace and allyship through shared personal journeys and how to build a roadmap for allyship in your organization this June and going forward.

Celebrating Pride in 2022: Coming Out and Allyship in the Workplace

The United States Supreme Court held that California’s Private Attorneys General Act rule is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act to the extent California precludes division of PAGA actions into individual arbitrable claims and non-individual, non-arbitrable claims. On this episode of We get work™, we discuss the ramifications for PAGA actions in California now that the Supreme Court’s decision has overruled the California’s Supreme Court decision.

Viking River Cruises Drops Anchor on PAGA

It’s no secret that the statutory deck under ERISA is stacked heavily in favor of multiemployer pension plans and against employers contributing to—or withdrawing from—Taft-Hartley trust funds. Construction employers should take demands for withdrawal liability seriously. The failure to strictly adhere to statutory deadlines can be, and often is, catastrophic by denying an employer the ability to contest the withdrawal liability in arbitration.&nbsp;

Construction Industry: Don’t White-Knuckle Withdrawal Liability

Tech startup companies often choose to compensate or incentive employees with some form of equity to conserve precious cash. Compensating employees with equity acts as an incentive for employees to work hard to get the company’s product ready for market, with a potential big payoff down the road. But determining what kind of equity compensation is right for a particular business can be difficult and the rules are complicated.

Granting Equity the Right Way

Maintaining a competitive edge in the brick and mortar retail space can involve taking risks—having employees use ladders in day-to-day operations is one most retailers cannot avoid. However, preventing and reducing ladder-related accidents and injuries is essential to keeping your workers and customers safe.

Ladder Safety: Dos and Don’ts for the Retail Industry

Avoiding workplace hazards in the construction industry may be next to impossible, but it’s critical to ensure the health and safety of employees as well as maintaining compliance with potentially dangerous OSHA regulations.

The Do’s and Don’ts of an OSHA Visit at a Construction Site

In what is likely the busiest time for workforce reductions since the pandemic began, employers should engage in longer-term, strategic thinking about how to adjust staffing levels. Jackson Lewis principals Michael Jakowsky and Isaac J. Burker offer best practices for WARN and disparate impact analyses.

The Year Ahead in RIF/WARN Issues in the Current Economy

With a White House and NLRB that are more pro-labor than most recent past administrations, a “labor renaissance” will be the overarching theme of 2023. Jackson Lewis principals Laura A. Pierson-Scheinberg and Felice B. Ekelman discuss what employers could or should do, especially since the “renaissance” is less governmental and more groundswell.&nbsp;

The Year Ahead in Caffeinated Organizing

The technology industry has often paved the way for DEI initiatives. However, one type of diversity has often been neglected—by all types of organizations including tech—and extends beyond visible traits such as race, ethnicity, or gender.

Creating a Diverse Workplace: Invisible Diversity and the Tech Industry

The intersection of human trafficking and smuggling and ESG presents significant legal risks to organizations. Companies are responsible for ensuring their workforces are legally authorized to work and must also ensure there are no coerced, trafficked, or underage employees or contractors at their worksites.

ESG: Human Rights and Modern Slavery

With leaps in innovation and an uncertain economy, employers are taking steps to right-size their organizations. Life sciences companies similarly must contend with the need for workforce reductions amid economic shifts.

Adverse Impact Analysis and Reductions in Force: What Is It and How to Use It Effectively

Employers in warehouse, storage, and distribution centers focus on reducing employees' injuries and illnesses. Despite efforts, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) focusing on comprehensive safety inspections, including heat and ergonomic workplace hazards.

Preventing Workplace Hazards in Warehouses, Storage, and Distribution Centers

Marijuana drug testing is complicated and controversial, and with rapidly increasing federal, state, and local laws affecting workplace policies, it may be challenging for employers to keep up. Indeed, since January, the U.S. Department of Transportation has published new drug testing regulations and several states have enacted new marijuana laws.

Clearing the Haze: Marijuana Drug Testing Legal Updates

Employers navigating the hybrid workplace maze may be searching for equitable and consistent work arrangement policies to ensure employees are both satisfied within their workplace—and productive.

Thriving or Floundering: The Hybrid Workplace

While website tracking technologies can provide value to organizations including product optimization, generating leads, understanding growth metrics, and targeting ads, the use of these technologies carries significant litigation and regulatory risk.&nbsp;To manage these risks, businesses need to wrap their heads around what trackers are used on their websites, what data those trackers collect, and how that data is used.

Navigating the Risks of Website Tracking Technologies

In today’s data-driven world, cyber liability insurance has gone from a good idea to essential coverage for organizations. As a result, it is imperative that organizations are familiar with key elements of their cyber insurance policy to ensure proper coverage for potential loss and damage.

What to Look for in a Cyber Insurance Policy

In today’s digital world, it is unfortunately more likely than ever before for an organization to be faced with some type of data breach crisis. When that happens, data incident response plans are necessary—and invaluable. Having a well-thought-out plan is the best way organizations can prepare for managing those events quickly, in an organized fashion and with the goal of minimizing any potential risk.

What to Include in an Incident Response Plan

Supply chain or third-party vendor disruption can cause operational chaos; specifically, unauthorized access can lead an organization to negligence claims, significant fines, contract disputes, potential lawsuits, loss of revenue, and even reputational harm. Therefore, companies need to secure their data by having robust vendor agreements that address data security and outline their responsibilities in case of a breach.

Operational Chaos: The Ramifications of a Vendor Data Breach

The fitness industry is projected to outpace the national average growth for U.S. employers over the next ten years. As a result, fitness studios, clubs, gym facilities, and other wellness-centered businesses face unique independent contractor issues, wage and hour practices, and harassment and discrimination claims.

Staying Healthy: Avoiding Legal Issues in the Fitness Industry

Landlords, property managers, realtors, and others in residential real estate strive to avoid inadvertently discriminating against individuals renting or leasing residential properties. Despite best intentions, discrimination can occur against protected classes covered under the New York State Human Rights Law.

Avoiding Unlawful Housing Discrimination in New York State: Part 1

Avoiding Unlawful Housing Discrimination in New York State: Part 2

DEI-minded employers are increasingly finding fertility, surrogacy, and adoption benefits are one of the better ways to incentivize and retain employees. Jackson Lewis Employee Benefits practice co-leader&nbsp;&nbsp;and principal&nbsp; share what 2024 has in store for employers seeking to add more inclusive family forming benefits — and the laws implicated when offering them.

The Year Ahead 2024: Employee Benefits

When it comes to Environmental, Social and Governance issues, the “S” is beginning to creep in on the “G” in the boardroom. Jackson Lewis ESG co-chairs&nbsp;&nbsp;and&nbsp; offer some context and insights for how senior leadership and boards can manage through tumultuous times by better aligning the organization’s values with its risk profile.

The Year Ahead 2024: ESG in the Boardroom

, co-leader of Jackson Lewis’ Workplace Safety and Health practice group, talks with her colleagues, principals&nbsp;&nbsp;and&nbsp;, about intriguing issues for the hospitality industry to look toward in 2024, including service animals, babies, and robotic arms.

The Year Ahead 2024: Hospitality

The biggest legislative movement in pay equity will continue to be transparency — especially at state and local levels. Jackson Lewis Pay Equity resource group co-leads&nbsp;&nbsp;and&nbsp; pull together the expanding patchwork of pay equity state law trends to help employers get a better sense of the emerging standards sure to affect operations and compensation approaches.

The Year Ahead 2024: Pay Equity

The tech theme for 2024 is more regulation. Jackson Lewis of counsel&nbsp;&nbsp;and principal&nbsp; tell you what you need to know to make AI work for you amid the rising U.S. and global pressures to regulate — and the attendant enforcement efforts sure to follow.

The Year Ahead 2024: Technology: AI

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenged the NLRB's 2023 Rule, arguing the Rule is unlawfully overbroad and would negatively affect franchisors-franchisees, contractors-subcontractors, and staffing agencies-user employers. &nbsp;

The 2023 National Labor Relations Board's Joint-Employer Rule in Flux

Organizations are harnessing the benefits of using generative and traditional AI technologies to enhance productivity, streamline operations, and foster innovation. However, before employing these tools in the workplace, organizations must minimize potential risks and ensure the ethical and responsive use of AI.&nbsp; Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in the Workplace 01:03 Developing Comprehensive AI Policies 06:05 Governance and Evaluation of AI Tools 11:11 Confidentiality, Data Privacy, and Security 15:55 Accuracy and Reliability of AI Outputs 20:51 Monitoring for Bias in AI 26:03 Policy Enforcement and Adaptation

We get AI for work: Establishing AI Policies and Governance Part 2

Some organizations are early adopters of AI, balancing the need to embrace new technology with transparency to stakeholders and adherence to regulatory guidelines. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI in the Workplace 02:30 Understanding ThreadUp and AI's Role 06:46 Balancing Transparency and AI Usage 11:33 Governance of AI in Organizations 18:01 Top Takeaways for AI Implementation

We get AI for work: Exclusive Interview with Stephanie Yang, Associate General Counsel for ThredUp

Leveraging data is one of an organization's most valuable assets. Metrics measure market competitiveness and help ensure pay equity and compliance with federal and state laws and regulations.

We get work®: An Exclusive Interview with Kyla Pavlina, Chief People Officer at Scipher Medicine

President Trump’s recent executive orders call for the elimination and, in some cases, requisite penalties for certain DEI initiatives and the data collection and reporting that accompanies them. In addition to raising questions about company culture, these orders may conflict with the mandates of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), creating compliance issues for global employers. &nbsp;

ESG and DEI: Managing Competing Reporting Obligations in the U.S. and Internationally

Since his inauguration, President Trump has issued dozens of executive orders affecting employers, including higher education institutions. These orders have quickly created multiple compliance hurdles.

Trump 2.0 and Higher Education: Your Questions Answered

Since taking office, President Trump has made significant changes at federal agencies affecting workplace regulations. In addition to appointing new leadership, President Trump swiftly removed sitting commissioners of the EEOC and NLRB, limiting a number of key agency operations.&nbsp;

Expect the Unexpected: the NLRB and EEOC during Trump 2.0

Accommodation requests for mental health issues are on the rise. Even though these types of disabilities might not be outwardly apparent, employers must address requests for mental health accommodations in the same way they would evaluate— and potentially accommodate—any disability as legally required. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Mental Health Accommodations 03:08 The Interactive Process in Mental Health Accommodations 06:00 Challenges in Recognizing Mental Health Disabilities 08:53 The Role of Service Animals in the Workplace 12:12 Customizing the Interactive Process 15:11 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Mental Health Accommodations in the Workplace

As states increasingly introduce legislative requirements for how companies respond to cybersecurity threats, it is more important now than ever for organizations to have a plan in place to address data breaches if and when they occur. &nbsp; Chapters 00:00 Introduction to We get Privacy for work 01:39 Understanding Incident Response Plans 03:05 Key Components of an Incident Response Plan 08:45 The Importance of Preparedness and Practice 12:00 Creating Usable and Effective Plans 16:11 Actionable Steps During an Incident 19:03 Reviewing and Updating the Incident Response Plan

We get Privacy for work: Why you Need a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan Now

Many federal and state laws require companies to have reasonable safeguards in the event of a data breach, but do not clarify what those protections actually are. &nbsp; Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Cybersecurity Safeguards 02:24 Understanding Reasonable Safeguards 04:46 Conducting Data Security Risk Assessments 11:01 Navigating Legal Frameworks and Compliance 17:48 Implementing Effective Employee Training

We get Privacy for work: Defining Reasonable Safeguards

Knowing what data your organization is collecting and from whom is critical to effectively respond to cybersecurity data breaches and prepare for future incidents.&nbsp; Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Data Privacy and Cybersecurity 01:54 Understanding Data Mapping 06:07 The Importance of Data Minimization 10:06 Legal Obligations and Compliance 14:02 Data Mapping Process and Best Practices

We get Privacy for work: The Increasing Importance of Data Mapping

Tanya Bovée and Michael Thomas &nbsp; Psychological safety in the workplace allows employees to speak up candidly with ideas, questions and concerns, and even make mistakes without fear of reprisal or adverse repercussions. The resulting security created by a culture that supports a safe workplace contributes to inclusivity and can improve performance as employees are able to be more engaged and connected at work. This episode of We get work™ explores steps employers can take to foster psychological safety, in turn creating more mental space for employees to think creatively, share their unique perspectives and be more actively engaged in problem solving.

Psychological Safety in the Workplace

In the face of evolving challenges in labor and employment law, Jackson Lewis attorneys identify issues dominating the modern workplace and answer the question on every employer’s mind – how will my business be impacted? Stream episodes of our podcast program here.

Jackson Lewis P.C.

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