The law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is very pleased to announce the election of eleven attorneys as new partners, effective January 1, 2024. The new partners are based in seven Hinshaw offices nationwide and represent various industry groups and practice areas.

A Hinshaw legal team led by attorneys David Hanus and Corey Swinick recently obtained a win at the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on behalf of their clients, Plaza Services, LLC (Plaza) and Jora Credit of Wisconsin, LLC (Jora). The court affirmed a trial court’s order granting the clients' motion to compel arbitration in a consumer action case.

For more information, please visit Hinshaw's Annual Labor & Employment Seminar page.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a rule that would make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors. The proposed rule would return to a "totality-of-the-circumstances" analysis of the economic realities test—in which the factors do not have a predetermined weight and are considered in view of the economic reality of the whole activity. The DOL said it will consider, among other factors, the worker's "opportunity for profit or loss, investment, permanency, the degree of control by the employer over the worker, whether the work is an integral part of the employer's business, and skill and initiative."

In deciding Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court has resolved a circuit split, answering the question of whether a party must show prejudice when arguing that the opposing party waived its right to compel arbitration. Previously, all federal circuit courts except the Seventh and D.C. Circuits used an arbitration-specific waiver rule that requires a showing of prejudice. The Supreme Court has now eliminated this requirement.

While helpful to individuals, the new guidance issued recently by the Center for Disease Control raises more unanswered questions for employers preparing or implementing return-to-work strategies. In an advisory published on Hinshaw's website, we review these questions, and provide analysis.

On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court (the court), in a per curiam decision, stayed enforcement of the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (the ETS) by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals now will determine the merits of the challenges to the ETS. The ETS, which would affect roughly 84 million workers, generally mandated that employers with at least 100 employees require their employees to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and masking in the workplace.

On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its long-awaited emergency temporary standard (ETS) addressing COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements for employers. The ETS became effective immediately upon publication and below, we address specific dates for compliance. OSHA incorporated the ETS in its General Industry Standards under Part 1910 Subpart U (29 CFR 1910.501).

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Temporary Rule on September 11, 2020, regarding the paid sick leave and expanded family medical leave rules under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Effective September 16, 2020, the Temporary Rule addresses the four main areas of the FFCRA that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor: (1) the FFCRA's "work-availability" requirement, (2) the FFCRA's definition of "health care provider," (3) the requirement that employees may only take intermittent leave where their employers consent, and (4) the FFCRA's requirement that employees provide their employers with the required documentation prior to taking their FFCRA leave.