Blogs

Employment Law

What Is Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?

Recently, the #MeToo movement has cast a spotlight on sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Despite the media focus on sexual harassment, there still seems to be a fair amount of confusion about what is and is not sexual harassment. Simply put, sexual harassment is harassment based on an individual’s sex. For legal purposes,…

January 19, 2018

Business and Financial Services

How Tax Reform May Impact You

Congress has passed tax reform and President Trump has signed the bill into law. Consequently, the tax code will be dramatically changed for many. Although there are many uncertainties in how the implementing regulations and rules will look, many businesses and certain industries will significantly benefit. There will be ample tax planning opportunities, and we…

January 2, 2018

Business and Financial Services

REMINDER – Electronic Registration of DMCA Agent Required By December 31

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) provides safe harbors from copyright infringement liability for certain kinds of online service providers — for example, websites that allow users to post or store material on their systems. If a provider is in compliance with the statute, it will be shielded from liability for infringing materials posted by…

December 21, 2017

Business and Financial Services

Is Your Business Website ADA Compliant?

The remarkable interconnectedness of our world through the internet has exponentially increased consumer access to information, goods, services and people. This nexus has also created some uncertainty regarding the application of many laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Congress clearly could not have anticipated widespread consumer use of the internet or the dramatic surge in e-commerce in recent years, when it passed the ADA more than twenty-five years ago. If you…

December 18, 2017

Employment Law

California Joins States Banning Employers from Asking Job Applicants about Salary History

In October 2017, California became the latest in a growing list of states and localities to ban employers from asking job applicants about their salary histories, a list that includes: Massachusetts, Delaware, Oregon, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York City. Similar legislation is currently under consideration in other states, including: Virginia, Maryland, New…

December 4, 2017

Business and Financial Services

How Much Can a Franchisee Expect to Earn – New Disclosure Guidelines for Franchisors

Almost everyone considering purchasing a franchise business wants to know how much he or she can expect to earn. Federal and state franchise laws and regulations restrict the type and extent of financial performance representations franchisors can make to prospective franchisees. The restrictions are intended to protect prospective franchisees from pie in the sky promises by the franchisor. The tension between what a franchisor can tell prospective franchisees about how much they can expect to…

November 21, 2017

Employment Law

OFCCP Announces Minimum Wage Increase and Hurricane Relief Measures for Federal Contractors

Minimum Wage Rate Increases Last week, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced an increase in the minimum wage applicable to federal contractors for contracts that are covered by Executive Order 13658. Effective January 1, 2018, the new hourly minimum wage rate will be $10.35, up from the current hourly rate of $10.20.…

September 25, 2017

Business and Financial Services

What Should You Choose? A Sub-S Corporation or an LLC

A Limited Liability Company (LLC) and a Subchapter S Corporation share a number of characteristics. Chief among them is that each provides participants – shareholders in a corporation, members in an LLC – with insulation from personal liability while avoiding the “double taxation” associated with C-Corporation status. Double taxation means that a C-Corporation pays taxes…

August 27, 2017

Employment Law

You Need What?: When Does Your Employee’s Request for More Leave Become Unreasonable Under the ADA?

Employee requests for extended leave as a reasonable accommodation of a disability continue to be among the most difficult for employers to evaluate under Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Consider this all too familiar scenario for many employers: Your employee is nearing exhaustion of all available forms of sick leave, including Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave and paid time off, and informs you that he is unable to return to work right now, requires additional medical…

August 4, 2017

Employment Law

New I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form Announced by USCIS

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) announced on July 17, 2017 that it has released a newly revised Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form. Federal law requires all employers to complete a Form I-9 for each individual hired for employment in the United States. Employers can begin using the revised version of the Form…

July 24, 2017