Articles and Blogs

On March 8, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, which is used to change or extend the status of a variety of nonimmigrants in the U.S., including H-4 dependents of H-1B workers. As of March 22, 2019, USCIS will only accept the revised version... READ MORE

The #MeToo Movement Focuses Attention on Mandatory Arbitration Agreements The #MeToo movement brought attention to the use of private arbitration for claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace because employers benefit from the sometimes reduced costs of arbitration by not having to air those disputes in public and before juries of... READ MORE

The controversial Obama-era EEO-1 pay data disclosure requirements that had been indefinitely stayed by the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) were reinstated earlier this week by a federal district court judge. This unhappy news for employers arrives less than three months before the May 31, 2019 EEO-1 filing deadline. The case... READ MORE

If the Trump administration moves forward with a plan to revoke work authorization for certain H-4 visa holders, over 100,000 foreign nationals could lose their ability to work in the United States. Overview The H-4 nonimmigrant visa allows spouses and unmarried children (under 21 years of age) of H-1B visa holders to join them... READ MORE

As explained in our previous post, on September 5, 2018, the Michigan Legislature voted to approve the Earned Sick Time Act (“ESTA”), a citizen petition-initiated measure that was due to go into effect in March of 2019. However, before the ESTA could go into effect, in December of 2018, it was renamed as the... READ MORE

The legality and use of medical marijuana has been changing rapidly over the last decade. The rules for prescribing medical marijuana vary under state law, but the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana, or the facilitation of these crimes, remains illegal under U.S. federal law. This landscape creates uncertainty for many physicians but... READ MORE

In SuperShuttle DFW Inc.¹, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) held that it would return to its longstanding and previously defined framework for determining whether a worker is classified as an employee or an independent contractor under the NLRA (“Act”). The issue in SuperShuttle was whether franchisees who operate shared-ride vans for SuperShuttle Dallas-Fort... READ MORE

The EEO-1 filing website will open in early March. The filing deadline has been extended to May 31, 2019. Both dates were pushed back as a result of the recent, partial federal government shutdown. Luckily for employers, the controversial pay data disclosure requirements remain on indefinite hold, as we previously reported; however, covered employers still... READ MORE

Once again, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) is demonstrating its strong stance against harassment in the workplace. The EEOC recently announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, allowing for quicker action against state and local government employers in harassment allegations – keep in mind that county hospitals typically fit the definition... READ MORE

Cybersecurity continues to rank amongst the major concerns for health care providers. Long-term care facilities in particular are increasingly attractive “low-hanging fruit” for digital bad actors because of the misperception that smaller entities are not big enough to warrant the resources and risk associated with a cyberattack. With a new year, the Department of... READ MORE