Government-imposed stay-at-home orders, essential business designations, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and employers’ duty to bargain under the National Labor Relations Act recently collided. To complicate matters, unions have proven very aggressive in their demands for information about employer’s responses to COVID-19. Many unions have demanded decision bargaining over layoffs, or changes in health and safety rules, claiming, in the case of layoffs, that the employer is furloughing employees, as if rebranding a layoff…

On March 31, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin announced that the SBA and Treasury Department have initiated a “robust” mobilization effort of banks and other lending institutions to provide small businesses with $349 billion in much-needed capital pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program, established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). The CARES Act, the largest stimulus package in U.S. history, was signed into law…

With special thanks to Teresa Michaud and Sara Pitt for contributing. Revised Health Orders were handed down yesterday across the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Berkeley Counties), intended to “clarify, strengthen, and extend” the terms of the prior shelter-in-place orders. Each supersedes its prior order, and provides that the county order is intended to implement more stringent county-level restrictions, to…

We hope that you, your families and colleagues are safe and doing well. We know these are difficult and challenging times for everyone, including US employers.  As always, we are here to help you navigate the complexities of our current — and quickly changing — environment. Click here to view our 40-minute on-demand webinar — COVID-19: 3 Key Areas for US Employers to Master Now In this webinar, several of our US based Labor & Employment partners…

The EEOC recently updated its Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act Guidance, first published in 2009, to specifically address the COVID-19 pandemic. The updated guidance is here. Significantly, the EEOC confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic meets the “direct threat” standard for employee medical examinations and disability related inquiries. Accordingly, employers do not violate the ADA by requiring employees to undergo medical examinations, such as temperature checks, or asking employees…