On October 4, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a Safe Harbor Policy for companies that self-report financial violations discovered during the acquisition of a target company. The Safe Harbor Policy will be applied across the DOJ, Monaco said, and each part of the DOJ — including individual US Attorney’s offices and DOJ components such as the Criminal Division and National Security Division (NSD) — “will tailor its application of this policy to fit their specific enforcement regime and will consider how this policy will be implemented in practice.” In the… Read more
Group health plans must submit an annual attestation confirming agreements entered into with service providers do not contain “gag clauses,” which are limitations regarding the plan’s ability to access certain de-identified claims data or disclose provider-specific information to third parties, including plan participants. The first attestation is due by December 31, 2023, and will cover the period of December 27, 2020 through December 31, 2023. Notably, not all third-party service providers are willing to submit the attestation on behalf of their clients, which means that plan sponsors may need to complete the submission themselves to ensure compliance. For more information, please see our March… Read more
On September 27, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). By November 30, 2023, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will be updated to allow citizens and nationals of Israel to apply to travel to the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without first obtaining a visa. The DHS identifies the change as one to further strengthen the security, economic, and people-to-people ties between the United States and Israel. To this end, Israel has implemented travel policies to allow all U.S. citizens… Read more
The New York State Office of General Services has issued the long-awaited New York State Buy Clean Concrete guidelines applicable to certain State of New York (“NYS”) construction projects. The guidelines “establish the minimum requirements for [NYS] agencies when developing and executing contracts involving low embodied carbon concrete and the applicability of the guidelines to State projects that involve the use of concrete.” The guidelines set forth “Maximum Global Warming Potential Limits for Low Embodied Carbon Concrete” (“GWP”). The applicable GWP limit depends on the specified compressive strength of the concrete and is measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent… Read more
On August 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking titled “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees,” that would extend overtime protections to an estimated 3.6 million salaried employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires most employers to pay employees overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek, unless the employee qualifies for an exemption. To qualify as an exempt executive, administrative, or professional employee under the FLSA, generally… Read more
As August ends, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has issued two significant decisions as well as a direct final rule about representation cases. On August 25, 2023, the Board, in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, overhauled longstanding procedures relating to union organization and recognition. The Cemex decision eliminates the need for unions to file an election petition with the Board before a union may demand recognition. Instead, unions may now demand recognition from an employer on the basis of asserting majority support through recognition cards. Under the Cemex rules, if a union makes a claim of majority support, the employer… Read more
SGR would like to bring to your attention the recent development from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding cybersecurity regulations that impacts public companies subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We are highlighting key aspects of the new rule, including the introduction of new disclosure forms and requirements. In March 2022, the SEC introduced a proposal encompassing new rules, rule amendments, and form amendments designed to enhance and standardize disclosures related to cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and material cybersecurity incidents. On July 26, 2023, the SEC announced its adoption and implementation… Read more
On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Notice 2023-62 (the “Notice”) providing welcome relief to plan sponsors with respect to the new SECURE 2.0 requirement that all catch-up contributions made by high-income employees be treated as Roth. This provision was set to become effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023—however, the newly released guidance announced a two-year transition period for this requirement. This means that, until 2026, catch-up contributions for high-income employees (those who earned more than $145,000 in the prior year) will be treated as satisfying the catch-up contribution requirements, even if they are not designated… Read more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published new proposed regulations on Friday, August 11, to implement the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), signed into law at the end of December 2022. The PWFA requires covered employers to offer “reasonable accommodations” to applicants and employees to address health issues related to pregnancy or childbirth, so long as the accommodation does not cause an “undue hardship” on the operation of the covered employer’s business. The PWFA applies to all private and public sector employers with at least 15 employees and expands existing protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights… Read more
On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued its decision in the much-watched Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters 628 case, returning to a case-by-case standard for evaluating challenges to employer-promulgated policies (for both union and non-union employees), and overturning a prior more employer-friendly standard that employed a balancing test to categorize policies into three groups. On September 4, 2020, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) determined policies in Stericycle’s employee handbook pertaining to personal conduct, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality of harassment complaints were overbroad and dissuaded an employee from engaging in protective activity, in violation of Section 8(a)(1)… Read more
