Posted on January 14, 2021 in Firm News

On January 11, 2021, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020. The Act bans the use of non-competes by employers in the District of Columbia, except for a few narrow exceptions related to medical specialists. Although signed by the Mayor, the Act will not go into effect until the conclusion of a 30-day Congressional review. Experts do not anticipate Congress will block the legislation from becoming law.

The new ban would be the strongest prohibition to-date against non-competes in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region. Maryland law currently prohibits non-completes for workers earning less than $15 an hour or $31,200 a year.

Scope of the Non-Compete Ban

The Act is a broad prohibition against non-competes, and states that "[n]o employer may require or request that an employee sign an agreement that includes a non-compete provision." Any such non-compete provision entered into on or after the date upon which the Act becomes law is void as a matter of law and therefore unenforceable. Moreover, D.C. employers cannot enact a workplace policy that prohibits an employee from being employed by another person, performing work or providing services to another person, or operating their own business.

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 Posted on December 11, 2020 in Disability & Accommodations

As companies continue to navigate this pandemic, now more than ever employees must understand their rights as it relates to disabilities and medical conditions.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), an employee suffering from a disability can request what are called, "reasonable accommodations." Reasonable accommodations are essentially job modifications that will allow an employee to better perform the job (in relation to their disability). The question becomes what makes an accommodation reasonable, and what specifically can an employee request of their employer under the law?

The ADA defines "reasonable accommodation" as one that "may include job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies... and other similar accommodations...." 42 U.S.C. § 12111(9). Reasonable accommodations can be as simple as a request for an ergonomic chair or modified hours to attend doctor's appointments. Once an accommodation request is made, the employer must respond and engage the employee in an attempt to reach a workable solution for the disabled employee (i.e. the "interactive process"). In determining what is a reasonable accommodation under the specific circumstances, businesses generally are not required to exempt employees from "essential functions" of their job or accept lesser work quality. It is often a fact specific inquiry whether a proposed accommodation is reasonable given the specific duties of the employee. Employers will point to a job description and their prior work directions to establish essential functions of the job. It is important to note that an employer only needs to provide a reasonable accommodation, and not the exact accommodation requested by the employee.

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