American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Provides Additional Funding to Assist Students Most Impacted by COVID-19
Much of the media coverage and discussion of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) has focused on stimulus checks and employee paid-leave provisions. However, ARPA also included several other significant provisions that affect public school districts and their special education programs. ARPA allocated nearly $123 billion to a new Elementary and Secondary Schools […]
Renewed Union Organizing Efforts
Organized labor has renewed its efforts at the state and federal level to expand various labor protections related to employees’ rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace. House and Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) on February 4, 2021 (the House previously passed the PRO Act in […]
Best Practices For Litigation Holds
When a public or private entity receives notice of an actual or potential claim or lawsuit, one of the first steps it should take is to implement a litigation hold. In general terms, a litigation hold is a directive to preserve documents, including electronically stored information, and other tangible items that may be relevant to […]
Tomorrow’s Deadline to Request Relief of Charging for COVID-19 Related Unemployment Claims
Employers have until tomorrow, February 19, 2021, to seek relief of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit charging for any COVID-19 related unemployment claims. Both contributing employers (i.e., employers who finance their UI liability by submitting a quarterly tax to the DWD) and reimbursable employers (i.e., government units or nonprofits that do not submit a quarterly tax […]
Biden Administration Takes Immediate Action Revising U.S. Immigration Policy
As is typical, a new Presidential administration signals a new ideological position with respect to, among other topics, the United States’ policies and priorities relative to the nation’s immigration system. During President Trump’s presidency his administration sought to reverse course on much of the immigration policies initiated during President Obama’s Administration. Now that President Biden […]
Covid-19 Vaccines and School District Employees
As COVID-19 vaccines are approved and distributed, public school districts must determine whether they will impose any rules governing employees and the COVID-19 vaccine. This Legal Update will review the legal issues surrounding such decisions. This Legal Update will not address the laws governing the administration of the COVID-19 vaccines to students. In December 2020, […]
New Stimulus Law Includes Voluntary Extension of EPSLA and EFMLEA
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act), which provides another round of stimulus payments and other initiatives intended to combat the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act also provides funding for general government operations. Of particular interest to employers and small businesses, the Act makes changes to […]
The Immortality Of Easements
Contrary to what most know, easements, like most things, are not immortal and they do have a specific lifespan. However, appropriate action can be taken to renew the legal enforceability of the easement. An easement is simply defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as “a right of use over the property of another”. There are multiple […]
COVID-19 Precipitates Changes to GED Testing and Credentialing
The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred several changes in education, most notably related to in-person learning. For those who have taken or plan to take the General Education Development (GED) test, the move to an increasingly virtual world has led to much uncertainty about whether these individuals may enter post-secondary education or the workforce according to […]
COVID-19 – Workplace Safety Grievances
Absent an Order from the Governor or Department of Health Services closing schools, school districts may provide in-person instruction so long as they deem it safe to do so. The issue for those school districts electing to provide in-person instruction is ensuring employee safety and health (as well as student safety and health). In light […]
