BLOGS

As many businesses have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars invested in inventory or equipment, one would normally guess that such items would be a business’ most valuable asset and often they are. However, this information can be in the form of intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trade secrets, etc.) or market-related information (customer preferences, vendor relationship details, pricing arrangements, etc.). As a lot of this information is not physically tangible, it can get forgotten about by business owners during ...

On March 23, 2021, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 1480, which amends both the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Illinois Equal Pay Act and requires employers to report EEO-1 and pay data to the Illinois Secretary of State.In this article we will focus on the amendment’s impact on the use of criminal background checks by employers in the hiring process.Essentially, the amendment provides that an employer may only consider an individual’s criminal conviction history if there is a substantial relationship betwee...

New updates from the CDC and OSHA. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have each recently issued updated guidance related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Workplace Vaccination Programs The Center for Disease Control recently updated its recommendations on Workplace Vaccination Programs.  The full CDC page can be found here, but below is a summary of some of the items the CDC recommends for the workplace:Offer flexible, non-punitive sick leave options (e.g., paid sick leav...

The new American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and its impact on employers On March 11, 2021 President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.  Most of the news reports have focused on the $1,400 stimulus checks that many Americans will receive or the extension of the $300 federal unemployment benefit through September 6, 2021, but for employers the primary question has been:  Do I still have to provide paid sick leave? Families First Coronavirus Response Act (commonly called the “FFCRA”) put into place COVID-related p...

We have already discussed what a social media account is, the various parts of it, and the steps that can be taken to secure ownership of a social media account that a business creates in the prior articles in this series. Now it is time to talk about the steps that should be taken and the agreements that should be drafted to document the transfer of a social media account.Every single time that ...