The implementation of the District of Columbia’s ban on most non-competition agreements has been delayed by the District of Columbia Council until October 1, 2022.

Maryland recently took the first step in enacting a comprehensive biometric data privacy law. On March 13, 2022, the Maryland House of Delegates passed the Biometric Data Privacy Act. The Act now goes to the Maryland Senate for review and potential passage into law. Maryland joins the growing number of states that are strengthening their data protection laws. The new Act introduces a number of requirements for biometric data (i.e. fingerprint, voiceprint, retina scan, etc.) and prohibits certain practices.

The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 has cleared both the Senate and House and now goes to the President, who is expected to sign it into law. The Act invalidates any pre-dispute arbitration requirement for sexual assault or sexual harassment claims.

On December 7, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Georgia enjoined the President’s Executive Order requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to be fully vaccinated on all new contracts and renewals by January 22, 2022.

Federal contractors and subcontractors should be aware that the minimum wage for workers on many Federal contracts increases to $15 per hour on January 30, 2022 for new contracts (which includes renewals, extensions, and options).

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court dealt a powerful blow to the NCAA’s oft-recited concept of amateurism. Used to restrict athletes from obtaining nearly any benefit for their athletic abilities other than their scholarships and attendant benefits, the NCAA’s reliance on amateurism to escape antitrust scrutiny failed before the Supreme Court, which affirmed that NCAA limitations on education-related benefits constitute illegal restraints on trade.

Anyone who follows college sports knows that the use of an athlete’s name, image and likeness (NIL) has been a hot topic in the last couple of years. Various states have enacted laws allowing student-athletes to earn NIL compensation, contrary to the NCAA’s long established amateurism rules.

Maryland has become the latest state to join the growing chorus of states allowing NIL compensation with Governor Hogan signing the Jordan McNair Safe and Fair Play Act.

FinCEN has now received public comment to the Corporate Transparency Act, found in National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA). The Act affects certain limited liability companies and corporations (especially those that are closely held) and requires disclosure of certain beneficial owners of the entities.

On April 27th, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour for all federal contractors. Contractors must incorporate the higher wage in new contract solicitations starting January 30th, 2022 and implement the new wage by March 30th, 2022.

Important changes to general contractor liability for subcontractors’ wage violations, as well as minor changes to home improvement contracts, failed to pass Maryland’s General Assembly. The General Assembly did pass an increase in the per registrant award limit under the new home builder guaranty fund.

A bill that would have amended Maryland’s Personal Information Protection Act, as well as an amended version of the proposed Maryland Online Consumer Protection Act, both failed to pass the General Assembly.

The Maryland General Assembly is considering limiting the application of the Responsible Payment of Employee Health Care Expenses Act.  Among other changes, a recent bill would (a) eliminate the minority business exemption, (b) exempt businesses employing 50 or fewer people and which did not exceed an average of $7,000,000 in gross sales for the past three years, and also (c) would exempt state jobs valued at less than $500,000.

Several bills were introduced in the General Assembly that would affect businesses.  While they are too numerous for a single blog post, two affect individuals’ privacy rights, which I have previously written about.

Earlier this year, a number of bills were introduced in the Maryland General Assembly that would affect contractors and subcontractors.  While they are too numerous to list in one blog post, a couple generally apply to most contractors and warrant attention.