Means & Methods: Newsletter of the Rees Broome Construction Law Group

February 7, 2019
On your current project and like many general contractors, you front end loaded your schedule of values, perhaps excessively. The project has been humming along as planned, with the owner paying all of your payment requests without objection. But now halfway into the project, the owner decides to delete some of the work, and in particular a detail that is only 25 percent complete. As allowed by the contract, the owner issues a deductive change directive in writing to delete the remaining work for this activity and demands a credit. What should you do, and how much credit must you allow?

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR COMPANY’S INTERESTS IN VIRGINIA UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION CLAIMS

February 7, 2019
Unemployment insurance benefits provide temporary financial assistance to workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own and who meet Virginia’s eligibility requirements. It is reasonable to want those who are unemployed through no fault of their own to receive financial assistance as the law allows, but prudent to not want to bear the cost of providing compensation to those who should not receive it.

Employment Law Alert - Changes to Overtime Rule Delayed and Possibly Ended

February 7, 2019
As employers are aware, the Obama administration made changes to the salary-based exemption regulation requiring employers to pay more than double the amount of salary to employees in order to take advantage of the exemption from paying overtime. The changes to the regulation required employers to pay salary-based exempt employees $913 per week on a salary basis instead of paying $455 per week on a salary basis.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND HAS ENACTED AN EARNED SICK AND SAFE LEAVE LAW

February 7, 2019

By Susan Richards Salen October 612016 Montgomery County, Maryland has enacted an Earned Sick and Safe Leave Law ("Law") effective October 1, 2016. Most employers in the County will have to provide most of their employees with up to 56 hours of paid sick and safe leave. The leave is accrued at the rate of one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked capped at not more than 56 hours of leave a year. Small employers (defined as employers with less than 5 employees) have to provide only 32 hours of paid leave and 24 hours of unpaid leave.

Crude Comments Alone May Create an Actionable Hostile Work Environment

February 7, 2019

For years lawyers have advised employers in the Fourth Circuit (the federal circuit for appeals from United States District Courts of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina) that crude and boorish sexual comments alone are not generally sufficient to create a hostile work environment for purposes of proving a sexual harassment claim under Title VII. Generally, in the Fourth Circuit, courts have found that comments alone are not sufficient to create an environment that is severe and pervasive enough to constitute harassment as a matter of law.

District of Columbia Enacts New Law Providing Increased Protections for Pregnant Workers and Nursing Mothers

February 7, 2019

The District of Columbia joined Delaware, Illinois, West Virginia and Maryland by enacting legislation to give additional protections to pregnant workers.  On October 24, 2014, the District of Columbia enacted the “Protecting Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2014” (PPWFA or the Act).   Provided that Congress does not disapprove of the PPWFA, the PPWFA will become effective sometime in late 2014.  The PPWFA gives pregnant employees and applicants, and recently pregnant employees (those who have recently given birth) and applicants, broad protections that might not otherwise be available to t