New England Biz Law Update

A recent federal appeals court ruling highlights the importance of paying attention to racial slurs in the workplace, including when they are made in a foreign language. That is especially true, the court said, when the slurs are part of ...

For companies that sell products to consumers, reporting of safety hazards is always important. This year, enforcement activity by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for reporting violations is up. In January, the Department of Justice announced that Walter Kidde ...

The Biden administration’s first published regulatory agenda includes plans for significant changes to the H-1B visa program for high-skilled workers. According to the agenda, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to amend the H-1B program by: Redefining the employer/employee ...

Earlier this year, the federal Department of Labor enacted a 100-percent premium subsidy for eligible individuals enrolled in COBRA as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This subsidy is available for assistance eligible individuals (AEI) between April 1 ...

The Biden administration has taken action on the definition of “independent contractor” under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Trump’s Department of Labor had announced an employer-friendly five-part test that largely defined an independent contractor’s status based on the level ...

President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order calling for restrictions on businesses’ use of noncompete agreements. Businesses sometimes use noncompetes to keep employees from accepting a job with a competing company for a certain amount of time after leaving ...

A joint resolution that withdraws conciliation reforms the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had made under the Trump administration has been signed by President Joe Biden. The reforms, which went into effect in January 2021, required an increase in transparency ...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld a lower court judge’s decision to enforce a judgment that a law firm obtained in Israel for unpaid fees owed by a client. The plaintiff law firm sought recognition of the Israeli judgment under ...

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 declined to take up a lawsuit New Hampshire filed challenging Massachusetts’ application of its income tax on residents working remotely from other states during the pandemic, a case that financial analysts said could ...

Five years ago, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to bar employers from asking a job applicant’s salary history before offering them a job. The historic step toward closing the wage gaps that exist between men and women ...