The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) is considered to be one of the most progressive discrimination laws in the nation. Earlier this year, the New York City Council passed a bill which expands the scope of the New York City Fair Chance Act (FCA), more commonly known as the “ban-the-box” law. The FCA prohibits most New York City employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history until after the employer extends a conditional offer of employment. The amended FCA expands protections for both applicants and employees with criminal backgrounds, including convictions, charges and arrests. The amendments go into effect on July 28, 2021.

On April 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' interpretation of the definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS), or autodialer, under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The Court held that a “necessary feature” of an ATDS “is the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to either store or produce phone numbers to be called.” 

On March 25, 2021, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court that the connection between the Montana and Minnesota plaintiffs’ claims and Ford’s activities in those states is close enough to support specific jurisdiction. Thus, an auto manufacturer can be sued in a state over injuries from vehicle accidents occurring in the state despite the vehicles in question being manufactured and originally sold elsewhere.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) has held that an employer may be required to pay for all or part of a Uniformed Services Employee Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) covered military leave. USERRA protects servicemembers by mandating that employers provide leave to accommodate military leaves of absence and re-employ servicemembers who timely return to work after their service.

Added to federal tax law by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and since expanded, the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) can significantly reduce an employer’s federal employment (payroll) taxes. Employers can use the ERTC to offset dollar-for-dollar employer payroll taxes they otherwise must deposit with the IRS.

Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), assistance eligible individuals (AEIs) are entitled to have their COBRA premium payments fully subsidized for the period between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021 (the “subsidy period”). The subsidy applies to group medical, dental, and vision benefit plans but not healthcare flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs). Employers will be fully reimbursed for all COBRA premiums they front under ARPA through a tax credit on their quarterly payroll tax filings.

In determining their taxable income for federal income tax purposes, borrowers of Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans now can deduct qualifying business expenses they paid with forgiven PPP loan proceeds. The new law provides that no deduction is denied, no tax attribute is reduced, and no basis increase is denied because of the exclusion from income of the recipient’s forgiven PPP loan. The change is effective for tax years ending after March 27, 2020 (tax year 2020 for calendar year taxpayers).

On March 10, 2021, a new set of sustainability disclosure requirements went into effect in the European Union, in the form of its Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR or EU Regulation). While the measure is complicated, essentially it imposes new obligations on investment funds, requiring disclosures of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk factors in materials that are provided to investors and made available on asset companies’ websites and in their periodic reports.