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Coolidge Wall Seeks Business Input in Response to FTC’s Proposed Noncompetition Rule

In Employment Law, Labor by Marc L. Fleischauer

As previously noted in our Coolidge Wall blog (https://www.coollaw.com/blog/2023/01/ftc-proposes-rule-to-ban-noncompete-clauses/), on January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking called the “Non-Compete Clause Rule” (the “Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule would prohibit employers in most industries from executing or maintaining noncompetition agreements with their employees and other workers.  This exercise of executive branch power would interfere with the ability of companies and individuals to enter contracts, in the name of preventing “restraints on trade.”  The Proposed Rule would literally void noncompetition agreements already in existence, and it would, we predict, have enormous unintended negative consequences …

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Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Proposes Rule to Ban Noncompete Clauses

In Employment Law, Labor by Marc L. Fleischauer

On January 5, 2023, the FTC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would prohibit employers from executing noncompete agreements with paid or unpaid employees, independent contractors, interns, volunteers, and apprentices. In addition to prohibiting employers from enforcing new noncompete agreements, the proposed rule would also operate retroactively to render existing noncompete clauses unenforceable and require employers to inform employees subject to a noncompete that the noncompete is void within 45 days of the rule’s implementation. The FTC proposed rule defines noncompete clauses to mean “a contractual term between an employer and a worker that prevents the worker from seeking …

Ohio’s New Concealed Carry Gun Law: How Does It Impact Private Employers?

In Employment Law, Labor by Marc L. Fleischauer

Effective June 13, 2022, Ohio Senate Bill 215, permits “qualifying adults” to legally carry, possess, and conceal a handgun without a license, background check, or training requirements.  According to the new statute, codified at Ohio Revised Code § 2923.125A: Regardless of whether the person has been issued a concealed handgun license, … a person who is a qualifying adult may carry a concealed handgun that is not a restricted firearm anywhere in this state in which a person who has been issued a concealed handgun license may carry a concealed handgun. A “qualifying adult” must, among other criteria, be at …

The State of Stays: Federal Vaccine Mandates Suspended for Now

In COVID-19 Information Hub, Employment Law, Labor by Marc L. Fleischauer

As we have described previously in recent months, several precarious federal mandates have been issued by the administration of President Biden as the country works its way toward recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.  These federal mandates have imposed significant burdens on private industry by sapping much-needed corporate resources, creating a sense of overreach and invasiveness, and alienating vaccine-resistant employees at the exact moment many employers are trying desperately to rev back up and to revitalize the economy. The mandates have been implemented primarily by three executive-branch sources affecting three huge sectors of the economy: Executive Order 14042 affecting federal contractors, …

OSHA Issues Emergency Temporary Standard for Large Employers

In COVID-19 Information Hub, Employment Law, Labor by Marc L. Fleischauer

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or are tested on a weekly basis.  This ETS compliments previous efforts by the federal government to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including Executive Orders requiring federal contractors and federal employees to be vaccinated, and regulations issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requiring vaccination for employees of health care facilities. Legal Challenges Legal challenges opposing the ETS have already been filed in various U.S. …

New Ohio COVID-19 Law Provides Businesses with Broad Immunity

In COVID-19 Information Hub by Marc L. Fleischauer

On September 14, 2020 Governor DeWine signed House Bill 606 (the “Legislation”) into law giving many businesses protection from lawsuits due to COVID-19 and other infections. Specifically, the Legislation provides that no person is liable for a civil action for damages, injury, or death due to COVID-19 or similar illnesses unless the person engages in reckless conduct, intentional misconduct, or willful or wanton misconduct. These immunity provisions will become retroactive to March 9, 2020 and remain in effect until September 30, 2021. The definitions in the Legislation make it clear that the term “person” protects not only individuals but also …