By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.
 
More and more people in the United States are getting vaccinated for COVID-19, which means the workplace, like every place else, is changing.  All 6 of the New England states (including New Hampshire) have already met President Biden’s goal that 70% of the adult population have at least one shot by July 4th. This is good news from a public health standpoint, because COVID cases are declining while vaccination rates increase. It is also good news from an economic perspective, as states and businesses alike remove pandemic-related restrictions and move closer to pre-pandemic operations.  But increased vaccinations also trigger new questions about what employers must do to comply with applicable workplace laws.  

By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.

Businesses are probably reaching for their seatbelts as they continue to adjust to the whiplash associated with a new Presidential administration.  These changes to the law have become more common given that increasingly legal guidance is driven by executive action rather than legislation.  Most recently, we have seen the whiplash arise in the context of worker classifications. 

On May 6, 2021, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) officially withdrew the Trump-era independent contractor rule.  That rule established the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) standard for determining when a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.  This distinction is critical for businesses to determine their obligations to pay their individual workers.  In essence, a worker who qualifies as an employee has to be paid in accordance with the minimum and overtime wage requirements of the FLSA.  These FLSA wage rules do NOT apply to independent contractors.  This means that employees have to be paid at least federal minimum wage for every hour they work, and they have to be paid compensated for overtime, at a rate at least 1.5 times the regular rate, for every hour worked over 40, while independent contractors do not.     

By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.

As vaccinations ramp up while cases and hospitalizations trend down, both New Hampshire and Massachusetts have started to loosen certain COVID-19 restrictions, including regarding travel. While caution remains the rule, the easing of restrictions in both states bodes well for business and workers alike in the region.
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On March 16, 2021, the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services Bureau of Disease Control issued new Travel Guidance related to coronavirus.  These are the highlights:    

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​By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esq., Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.
 
When does a hotel guest become a “tenant” subject to the protections of New Hampshire’s residential landlord/tenant laws and the associated summary process laws that govern eviction? Never, according to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, although a slight twist in facts might change that answer in a particular case.
 
This response may surprise many hotel operators who have assumed otherwise, depending on the circumstances of a hotel guest’s arrangement with the hotel. The Court’s decision in Anderson v. Robitaille, No. 2017-0195 (NH 2019) should disabuse hotel operators and their guests of any such assumption. It is an opinion that strict constructionists would absolutely adore.
 

By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.
 
On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) once again updated its guidance concerning COVID-19, this time to address vaccinations.  Just as with past guidance, the new information regarding vaccinations comes in the form of questions and answers that show up in the last section of the EEOC’s COVID-19 technical assistance publication.  These are some of the highlights: 
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The EEOC has taken the position that the ADA, GINA, and Title VII do not prohibit employers from requiring their workforces to be vaccinated against COVID.  In other words, employers are generally permitted to require employees to get the COVID vaccine and/or to ask their employees for proof of a COVID-19 vaccine without running afoul of EEO law.  But that does not mean all required vaccination program comply with EEOC laws.  

​By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.
 
Just before Thanksgiving, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published proposed new guidance regarding religious discrimination in the workplace.  The 100+ page guidance explains an employer’s obligations regarding religion discrimination mostly by giving common examples of how religion and workplace rules tend to collide and if and how the scenarios violate the law.  In fact, the EEOC guidance provides over 50 different examples to help employers understand workplace scenarios which implicate Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination.  The format of the guidance offers critical insight into how the EEOC views religious discrimination claims.  As real-life examples often provide a helpful way to understand confusing legal standards, the guidance also provides practical ways to deal with these issues in day-to-day operations.  

By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Adam J. Chandler, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer &
Chandler, P.C.

​While much of the country was heading to the polls on November 3, the United States Department of Labor issued two new Opinion Letters.  In these letters, the DOL provides opinions on when employee time traveling to remote work sites and at voluntary training programs is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.
 
​The US Department of Labor recently revised its regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or “the Act”), one of the major pieces of Federal legislation passed in response to COVID-19. These revisions clarify certain workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities under the FFCRA to address the continuing impact COVID-19 has had on business throughout the country.