Business, Management, Marketing, Money, Tax, Law, People

Quick Hits An employee who cannot perform essential job functions, even with a reasonable accommodation, is not a “qualified individual” under the ADA. The ADA does not require an employer to provide wholly remote work as a reasonable accommodation if a position requires in-person attendance to perform some essential functions. Employers need not extend additional accommodation offers after an employee rejects an initial reasonable accommodation. Background After an accounting assistant…

Quick Hits New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a new AI agenda, including the establishment of an Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity and Trust (DIGIT) to oversee digital safety and technology governance. The governor also announced plans to advance legislation aimed at regulating AI-generated content and enhancing consumer privacy, including proposals to mandate labeling of provenance data and require data broker registration. This initiative builds on a series…

Quick Hits Crypto payments, especially via stablecoins, enable lightning-fast, low-cost cross-border transfers that reduce fees and delays compared to traditional banking. Offering crypto options can signal innovation and help attract tech-savvy talent, particularly in web3 and global remote teams. Key risks include price volatility (unless using stablecoins), complex U.S. tax treatment as property, and the challenge of meeting local minimum wage requirements when compensation fluctuates or is not denominated in…

In this article, we address how employers can respond in the immediate aftermath of discovering a fraudulent employee and their considerations moving forward. Quick Hits Employers may want to take immediate action to terminate an individual’s access and privileges as soon as they determine the individual is a fraudulent employee. Employers may also want to promptly involve trusted IT and legal personnel to conduct a forensic evaluation of the employee’s…

Quick Hits On December 30, 2025, HHS’s OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 25-12, determining that home care agencies’ proposed sign-on bonuses for prospective caregivers, who are often family members of Medicaid participants, constituted impermissible remuneration under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and potentially violated the Beneficiary Inducements Civil Monetary Penalty provision. The OIG found that the proposed sign-on bonuses, advertised without eligibility criteria, created an “inextricable link” between caregivers and client…

Quick Hits For the election of a separate works council in Germany, a certain territorial unit belonging to a company must either constitute an establishment with unified management or an independent part of an establishment with a minimum degree of organizational autonomy. Mere delivery zones (“remote cities”) of a platform-based delivery service, where only delivery drivers are employed, do not constitute organizational units eligible to elect a works council. The…

Quick Hits California’s transition to electric vehicles is causing a decline in gas tax revenue, prompting the state to consider a mileage tax to fund transportation infrastructure. The proposed mileage tax would likely trigger existing state labor laws, requiring employers to reimburse employees for the tax as a necessary business expense. Employers may face significant financial impacts from increased reimbursements, potentially leading to higher prices for customers, reduced employee travel,…

Quick Hits On February 2, 2026, the California Legislature declined to pass legislation (SB 310) that would have allowed employees to directly sue for unpaid wages under section 210, maintaining the current enforcement avenues through the labor commissioner or PAGA. SB 310 aimed to address delays and limited recoveries in existing processes by proposing a new civil action route for employees, but it failed to pass, leaving the current penalty…

Quick Hits Noncompliance with New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law’s recordkeeping requirements creates a presumption that an employer failed to provide the earned sick leave required by the law. Vacation/PTO policies relied upon by employers to comply with the ESLL must provide paid leave for all purposes required by the ESLL. Failure to provide earned sick leave constitutes failure to pay wages under NJWHL, subjecting employers to claims for liquidated…

Quick Hits The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reiterated that a low bar exists for asserting a religious discrimination claim at the pleading stage of a Title VII case. The court held it was not a violation of the ADA for an employer to ask about an employee’s vaccination status. An employee’s vaccination status does not support a “regarded as” disabled claim under the ADA in the…