By: Sherry D. Coley and Tiffany E. Woelfel On April 15, 2020, Governor Evers signed into law Wisconsin’s first state-wide legislative response to the COVID-19 crisis: 2019 Wisconsin Act 185 (the “Act”). The new Act provides civil immunity to specific individuals or companies for death or injury to a person caused by the “emergency medical...
By: Alec Dobson Health care providers in Wisconsin now have immunity from civil liability, subject to certain exceptions, for death, injury or other damages caused by their services during the coronavirus emergency. The immunity provision is part of the wide-ranging coronavirus relief law which received final approval in the Legislature on April...
Within less than a month, the outbreak of COVID-19, and government countermeasures deployed to blunt its effect, has brought a vibrant economy grinding to a halt. In particular, what was a lively commercial real estate market buttressed by strong economic fundamentals, only weeks ago, is beginning to slow due to the uncertainty caused by the...
By: Abby S. Busler The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes among its many provisions specific funding sources for Wisconsin school districts. This includes a Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund and an Elementary Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The CARES Act also created a higher education relief fund,...
By: Alec Dobson The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has established two temporary, emergency programs with relaxed training requirements to help nursing homes increase nurse aide staffing to help meet the increased demands posed by COVID-19. The DHS announcement on April 9 implements Governor Tony Evers’ Emergency Order No. 21, which was...
On March 24, 2020, in response to the growing COVID-19 crisis, Governor Evers directed the Department of Health Services to issue a Safer At Home Order, which closed all non-essential businesses and eliminated non-essential travel. For now, the Order is scheduled to last until April 24. However, with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, it may...
By: Bruce B. Deadman Many employers are bedeviled by the question of what payments need to be included under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in an hourly employee’s hourly rate for the purpose of determining what their pay rate should be for overtime (hours worked over 40 in a workweek). This is often referred to as the employee’s “regular...
By: Abby S. Busler, Laurie E. Meyer, and James M. Kalny On April 1, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued its interim regulations in connection with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), as title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 826. The regulations are preceded by 82 pages of guidance. The following highlights the...
By: Ted A. Warpinski and M. Andrew Skwierawski On March 26, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued guidance on how it intends to handle environmental compliance obligations that may be impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. A link to our update on that guidance can be found here. At that time, we expected that the...
By: Sherry D. Coley and Tiffany E. Woelfel On March 22, 2020, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ordered that all in-person proceedings at the trial court and appellate court levels are suspended until April 30, 2020. Despite ordering this suspension, the order explicitly declared that the Wisconsin Courts will remain open. The Eastern and Western...
