In our next session of Your Morning Briefing, Amy L. Hemenway and Anna S.M. McCarthy will discuss how to address employee speech in the workplace. With the country gearing up for election season, and the strong feelings that are often elicited by differences in political opinions or reactions to any number of global current affairs, employers may face the challenge of how to handle conflicts that occur when employees discuss non-work-related topics with each other, wear or display polarizing images or text, or post opinions on social media.

In April of 2024, the FTC issued a final rule concerning non-compete agreements.  Once effective, the rule will impose a comprehensive ban on new non-compete agreements with all workers and a ban on existing non-competes against most workers, with a limited exception for senior executives. The rule is set to go into effect on September 4, 2024, although at least four lawsuits have been filed to halt the FTC’s enforcement of this rule.

In our inaugural session, Amy and Anna will dive into the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), which became effective June 27, 2023, and requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. They will discuss the PWFA and its requirements as compared to the ADA, the necessity of interactive dialogue between employers and employees, and the upcoming EEOC regulations set to take effect on June 18, 2024. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed on critical legal updates and best practices.

On March 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice in the Federal Register that clarifies changes to the data elements providers must submit to the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) to obtain and maintain a National Provider Identifier (NPI).

On March 18, 2024, the OCR updated this guidance to increase clarity for regulated entities and the public.

Have you ever received a marketing email like the one below in your inbox?

The American Medical Association (AMA) is leading the Physician Practice Information (PPI) Survey in 2023-2024 with the primary purpose to collect representative data on practice expense and hours spent in direct patient care. This important effort aims to collect accurate data on the costs and challenges of modern physician practices and to share that information with policymakers and payers, so they can in turn make more informed decisions when it comes to policy and reimbursement issues.

Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2021 amended Social Services Law § 413 to require additional training to include protocols to reduce implicit bias in decision-making processes, strategies for identifying adverse childhood experiences, and guidelines to assist in recognizing signs of abuse or maltreatment while interacting virtually within the New York State Mandated Identification and Reporting of Child Abuse and Maltreatment/Neglect coursework. This law requires that mandated reporters (which includes New York State Chiropractors), including those who have previously undergone the current training, complete the updated training curriculum by April 1, 2025.

Arlington, Va. – The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) installed new leadership during its annual meeting in January in Washington, D.C. Leo Bronston, DC, MAppSc, of Onalaska, Wis., was elected president of the association, and Marcus Nynas, DC, of Billings, Mont., was re-elected vice president for the 2024-2025 term by members of the ACA Board of Governors (BoG).

Arlington, Va. – The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) presented its 2024 Annual Awards on Jan. 26 during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The awards recognize chiropractors and other individuals for their exceptional service, achievement and/or leadership within the chiropractic profession.

On Aug. 1, 2023, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (PDF, 899.28 KB). Form I-9 is used to “verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must properly complete Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form.” (USCIS)

A news source recently reported that “another summer COVID wave may have started in the U.S.” (NPR, 2023).  As a result, NYS employers may begin seeing an uptick in the number of employees who are absent from work due to illness.  You yourself may have wondered, “What are my obligations regarding employee sick leave due to COVID-19?”

Most organizations are aware of the privacy laws designed to protect consumer data. However, many organizations may not be aware that another constituency has the same rights—employees. Without the proper protocols in place for protecting and providing access to employee data, employers could find themselves in hot water. This LEGALcurrents provides insights on what organizations should be doing to establish the right data protection model for consumer and employee data.

An update to New York State's nursing employee and breastfeeding accommodations law is now in effect as of June 7. Here are the essential obligations that employers should take note of to ensure they are in full compliance.

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In his most recent column published in the Rochester Business Journal, Labor and Employment Partner, Ben Mudrick, breaks down New York state’s recently revised Model Sexual Harassment Policy and what has changed. Ben discusses the circumstances leading up to these changes, how they are affecting New York businesses, and what employers should be aware of when considering their own policies.

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Are patients and practitioners still required to wear a face mask?

Recently, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) weighed-in, backing away somewhat from the Department’s previous face mask mandate for certain health care settings, principally facilities regulated by the Department under Articles 28, 36 and 40 of the New York State Public Health Law (PHL) relating to hospitals, home healthcare services, and hospices, respectively. 

Join your fellow healthcare professionals and the New York Yankees for select games in May at Yankee Stadium. The dates for the games are May 8-14, 2023

Medical Xpress: Chiropractic spinal manipulation associated with reduction in low back surgery

A recent study from University Hospitals (UH) Connor Whole Health has found that adults who initially visit a chiropractor to receive spinal manipulation for low back pain caused by disc herniation or radiculopathy (i.e., sciatica) are less likely to undergo discectomy (i.e., disc surgery) over the subsequent two years. This study was recently published in the journal BMJ Open.

On March 17, 2022, the provision of the New York HERO Act requiring masking has “ended” without it being renewed. Therefore, apart from those health care settings identified by the Commissioner of Health in her recent determination (March 2, 2022) which only applies to "facilities or entities regulated under Articles 28 [Hospitals], 36 [Home Health Care Services] and 40 [Hospices] of the Public Health Law," the mask requirement does not appear to apply to private practice settings in New York State.

New York State masking requirements continue to be in effect for health care settings, including chiropractic offices.