March

The Compassionate Care Act, which was signed into law in July 2014, legalizes and regulates the manufacture, sale and use of medical marijuana in New York. The Act sets forth specific conditions under which a patient may obtain medical marijuana.

The Act provides that certified patients shall not be subjected to "disciplinary action by a business" for exercising their rights to use medical marijuana. It also contains a nondiscrimination provision, which states that being a patient for whom a doctor in New York State has prescribed medical marijuana is a "disability" under the New York State Human Rights Law.

Even so, New York employers will still be able to maintain a safe workplace by restricting employees from performing their duties while under the influence of marijuana. For example, employers may still adopt and maintain reasonable policies or procedures - including drug testing - to ensure that an individual is not working while under the influence of a controlled substance (including marijuana) or engaging in the illegal use of drugs.

Millions of Americans are now involved in some form of sporadic, non-traditional related job, whether it is called freelancing, temping, ubering, etc. In some instances, these individuals are clearly in business for themselves. There are, however, an increasing number of "gigs" which closely resemble traditional employment.
 
According to David Weil, administrator of the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, the employment relationship between workers and businesses in the U.S. has become "fissured" apart as companies seek to outsource certain non-core tasks to separate companies or individuals.
 
 So what does the DOL have to say about being a joint employer? And what impact (if any) will this guidance have on I-9 compliance?
 
Enter the I-9 Conundrum: I-9 regulations specifically exempt "independent contractors", however, what if you are misclassifying your employees as independent contractors? What if you are actually a "joint employer" for purposes of completing the I-9?
 
This raises a potentially sticky I-9 problem for employers.

All employers are required to complete a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification to verify their new hires' identity and employment eligibility.

The Department of Homeland Security Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) partnered and published guidance for employers on internal Form I-9 audits in compliance with the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA).

The guidance gives important information for employers, including: the purpose and scope of an internal audit, considerations before conducting internal audits, how to avoid conducting internal audits that are discriminatory, what information should be communicated to employees during an internal audit, and procedure for correcting errors or omissions.