This alert summarizes some of the key issues that businesses must consider as they make plans to reopen, including putting together a workplace safety plan.

Private business and store owners/operators now can use the “no mask-no entry” rule to deny individuals entry into their businesses if they have no mask on or refuse to wear a mask or other face-covering.

The Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor has issued a non-COVID-19-related final rule that service and retail industry employers should not overlook.

On May 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it is increasing in-person inspections at all types of workplaces, and it will now enforce the recordkeeping requirements for employee coronavirus illnesses for all employers.

As the nation’s COVID-19 hotspot, NY has issued several Executive Orders and Department of Health Directives implementing various healthcare directives to combat the virus pandemic. However, NY is not alone in introducing legislative efforts to both assist and regulate healthcare facilities and providers in response to COVID-19. Many states have enacted similar such provisions, or already had such provisions in place, and we aim to provide a succinct summary of each of these in this alert.

Hurwitz & Fine details out the businesses included in Phase 1, and the "Business Safety Precautions" plan they must to develop in order to reopen.

The initial flurry of requests for Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) leave may have passed, but as New York businesses make plans to reopen, we are likely to see new situations where parents with school-aged children may request leave under the FFCRA. 

In addition to compiling and updating a survey of known COVID-19 business interruption complaints filed to date, Attorneys Lee S. Siegel and Ryan P. Maxwell have published an article in Law360, which analyzes these lawsuits for trends.

We’re two months into working from home, and two weeks into our new leadership. Jody Briandi, Managing Partner, details how Hurwitz & Fine is handling the challenges and staying the course during COVID-19.

Attorneys Lee S. Siegel and Joseph S. Brown were interviewed in the May 14, 2020 NPR news segment.

This update provides information on the defense of claims, filing and serving papers, pending motions, and trials.

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity for businesses to find creative and cost-effective solutions to their most pressing business disputes in a time of uncertainty.

Hurwitz & Fine Labor & Employment team speaks on the key legal issues and best practices that employers should consider as they prepare to return to the "new normal" workplace in the May 11, 2020 edition of Buffalo Business First.

On May 7^th, New York Governor Cuomo extended the moratorium on commercial and residential evictions due to COVID-19 related hardships by another 60 days—through August 20, 2020.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has provided updated guidance to employers on issues related to: (1) employee requests for reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”); (2) individuals at high risk for contracting COVID-19 who have not requested accommodations; and (3) potential undue burdens on employers.

Hurwitz & Fine identified and tracked 56 business income complaints filed to date. There are many similarities among the complaints. But complaint number 57 is different, very different. Welcome to “Public Fear” coverage.

For those businesses who obtained a PPP loan, in order to have it forgiven, they may need to get their staff off unemployment and back on the payroll.  But what if a laid off employee rejects an offer to rehire?

Hurwitz & Fine was quoted in the May 7, 2020 edition of Buffalo Business First, "How Buffalo Law Firms Have Responded to the Pandemic."

Is your business ready to re-open when workplace restrictions issued in response to the COVID-19 crisis are eventually lifted?