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Author Archives: New England Biz Law Update staff

2023 Largest Law Firms in Massachusetts

To our readers: Welcome to Lawyers Weekly’s annual review of the state’s Largest Law Firms. We have been surveying the largest firms in Massachusetts for more 25 years and are proud to bring you this year’s edition. The directory is ...

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Accommodating employees with long COVID

Coronavirus germ

Long COVID can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Information provided by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service provided through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, offers guidance on how ...

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Protecting trade secrets before a layoff

Confidential files

Trade secrets can be the lifeblood of a company’s success. These confidential pieces of information – such as customer lists, product formulas, and strategic plans – can give a company a competitive edge in the marketplace. However, when an organization ...

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Supreme Court rules high-earning employee entitled to overtime

Punch clock

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that even a highly compensated employee could be eligible for overtime, provided that the employee is not paid on a salary basis. In Helix Energy Solutions Group v. Hewitt, the court considered whether a ...

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DOJ aims to incentivize voluntary self-disclosure

Department of Justice seal

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a new policy outlining the benefits a company may receive for voluntary self-disclosure (VSD) of criminal conduct. A goal of the policy is to incentivize companies to come forward proactively when they discover ...

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Severance for silence? Not so fast, says NLRB

National Labor Relations Board ((Geraldshields11 via Wikimedia Commons)

It’s a common practice for severance agreements to prohibit employees from disclosing the terms of the agreement or disparaging the company. But those provisions need to be used more judiciously, following a recent decision from the National Labor Relations Board ...

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Bill would strengthen IRS whistleblower program

Internal Revenue Service federal building Washington DC

A bipartisan group has introduced legislation seeking to shore up protections for whistleblowers under the IRS Whistleblower Program. Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) are sponsoring the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act ...

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Federal appeals court addresses FMLA notice requirements

Paid family leave form

Managing intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can be challenging for companies, especially if the employees requesting intermittent leave have fluctuating, unpredictable medical conditions. Recently, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the use of ...

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OSHA expands ‘instance-by-instance’ citation policy

Department-of-Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced enforcement guidance changes that will make it easier for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to increase penalties against employers who repeatedly expose workers to life-threatening hazards or fail to comply ...

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Bipartisan bill would ban most noncompetes

U.S. Capitol

A bill that would essentially ban noncompete agreements has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The measure comes in the wake of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently announced proposal to eliminate noncompetes except in limited situations. Under ...

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