Blogs

Employment Law

FMLA Delay? No Way.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter on March 15, 2019 that answered the question of “whether an employer may delay designating paid leave as Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave or expand their FMLA leave beyond the statutory 12-week entitlement.” The DOL’s answer in short: No way. Guidance from the…

March 22, 2019

Employment Law

5 Takeaways from DOL’s Proposal to Change FLSA Overtime Rules

On March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed rules that would update the salary threshold for the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (FLSA) so-called “white collar” or “EAP” exemptions from overtime. The importance of this issue for employers is tied to the fact that an employee must be paid on a salary…

March 11, 2019

Employment Law

Fourth Circuit Concludes: False Rumor that Female Employee Slept with Her Male Boss to Obtain a Promotion Can Support a Claim of Sexual Harassment

In a decision that pushes the boundaries of past decisions defining hostile work environment sexual harassment, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Parker v. Reema Consulting Services, Inc. , concluded that “a false rumor that a female employee slept with her male boss to obtain a promotion . . .” can give rise to employer liability under Title VII for discrimination ‘because of sex.’ When a supervisory employee perpetrates workplace innuendo of this kind, the court wrote, the employer…

February 25, 2019

Business and Financial Services

Should I Franchise My Business?

Franchises have become part of our everyday experience. We eat at franchise restaurants, shop at franchise clothing and home goods stores and sleep at franchise hotels. Franchising as a business concept developed and became popular in fast food and retail sales businesses. But over the last 20 years franchising has expanded to businesses offering all types of goods and services, such as senior care, sports, fitness and education, to name just a few. Professional services businesses, such as…

January 28, 2019

Business and Financial Services

Win for Online Speech Sustained: U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Hassell v. Yelp

Back in July, we provided our five takeaways from the California Supreme Court’s decision in Hassell v. Bird that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (“Section 230”), which confers defamation immunity upon internet sites that “publish” content of another, protected Yelp from a take-down order directing it to remove defamatory content. After…

January 23, 2019

Business and Financial Services

The First Round of Opportunity Zone Fund Regulations Are Out!

Some of the highlights of the first round of proposed regulations released on October 19, 2018 in conjunction with Revenue Ruling 2018-29 are as follows: Capital Gains: The regulations take the position that only capital gains for federal income tax purposes are eligible to be invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF). Thus, gains such…

October 29, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You: Q & A

This is the next post in a series of articles diving into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. In previous posts, we described the general framework for the new Opportunity Fund program, the tax benefits to taxpayers who invest in Opportunity Funds, and how the funds work. Now, we will answer some of the more common…

August 27, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You: How the Funds Work

This is the third post in a series of articles diving into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. In our first post, we described the general framework for the new Opportunity Fund program which you can find here. In the second post, we discussed the tax benefits to taxpayers who invest in Opportunity Funds. Now, let’s…

August 14, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You – What Are the Tax Incentives and What Investors Need to Know

This is the second post in a series of articles wherein we will dive into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. In our first post, we described the general framework for the new Opportunity Fund program which you can find here. There are three tax benefits that investors in an Opportunity Fund can take advantage of,…

August 9, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You

This is the first feature in a series of articles wherein we will dive into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. The recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is most widely known for changing corporate tax rates, limiting the mortgage interest and state deduction for individuals, and for providing the qualified business income pass-through…

August 6, 2018