Late on Friday, December 17, 2021, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, vacated the Fifth Circuit’s stay on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”). The ETS mandates private employers with at least 100 employees to be fully vaccinated or submit to a weekly COVID test and wear face masks. Given this swift reversal, OSHA...
After being blocked this month by a federal judge in Louisiana, the COVID vaccination mandate for nursing home staff has been reinstated in Wisconsin and 25 other states, at least for now. The background: In November the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services required nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid to have staff fully...
Even before the Biden Administration promulgated its now-in-legal-limbo vaccination/testing mandates, the COVID-19 pandemic had brought health-related, and religious-related, matters to the forefront of the employer-employee relationship, perhaps like never seen before. As a result, employers often have been forced to have difficult conversations...
The federal requirement that nursing homes vaccinate staff against COVID-19 is on hold temporarily after a judge’s ruling this week in Louisiana. The ruling, coming amid concerns over the omicron variant of the coronavirus, could ease pressure on nursing homes facing staffing shortages but for now leaves vaccination rules in an uncertain status....
In business, many situations require you to share sensitive and confidential information with another individual or company. To ensure the other party respects the confidentiality of this information, a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, is often used. But when is the right time to utilize an NDA? And why should you consider them as part of your...
The mergers and acquisitions market continues to be hot. While it was initially unclear how the pandemic would affect it, the M&A market has proven to be highly adaptable and has recovered nicely. Historically low borrowing costs mean motivated buyers, and while it continues to be a seller’s market, smart business owners are those that are...
On Tuesday, November 16, 2021, litigation pending in several federal circuits regarding the federal vaccine/testing mandate described below was consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Below, we summarize the mandate, discuss the various court developments, and provide guidance as to steps employers could take while the...
While Congress is busy debating changes to federal tax law, the IRS continues to operate on the basis of existing provisions. Over the last week, a number of updates have been issued by the IRS regarding inflation adjustments. Below is a summary of the recent announcements for calendar year 2022. INCOME TAXATION On November 10, 2021, the...
Nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid must have all non-exempt staff fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than January 4, 2022, under an emergency regulation issued November 4. Exemptions are allowed for staff with certain recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs. The emergency regulation, issued by the Centers for...
For nearly a year, various proposals and so-called “frameworks” have been debated in Congress regarding changes to the federal estate and gift tax laws. Nearly all would have (i) reduced the amount that individuals could gift during lifetime or bequeath at death before application of federal transfer taxes, (ii) eliminated the so-called “step...
