Category Archives: Small Business
Biden Issues Executive Order Targeting Unfair Use Of Non-Compete Clauses
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order aimed at curbing 72 business practices he deemed detrimental to fair market competition and to the rights of workers. One of these actions is the improper use of non-compete clauses, which are very prevalent in employment contracts. The text of the executive order… Read More »
How Businesses Can Protect Themselves Against Wrongful Termination Of Employment Lawsuits
Maryland’s at-will employment laws make it possible for employers to terminate the employment of any employee for any reason, unless the employee has a written contract saying that their job is guaranteed to last until a certain date. Most of the time, when an employer terminates an employee’s job, it is either because of… Read More »
What United Healthcare’s New “Non-Emergency ER Visit” Policy Means For Your Small Business
The COVID-19 pandemic changed so many aspects of our daily lives, so it is no surprise that it changed how we think about healthcare and health insurance. All but the wealthiest were in a position where a health problem not covered by insurance would be financially disastrous. We started to talk about health services… Read More »
Debt Collection Has An Image Problem
As a business owner, you are well aware that you have to spend money to get money. Before you invest any money in marketing, you think carefully about which marketing strategies will give you the best return on your investment. During the pandemic, business owners have also been resourceful about seeking funding through grants… Read More »
Selling Your Debt: Possibly Good For The Bottom Line, But Definitely Bad For Your Reputation
It’s annoying to get phone calls from companies with which you have an unpaid past-due balance, but you know on some level that, by running up a bill with them, you were implicitly promising to pay it. When a collection agency calls you to pester you about a debt, though, rage is a natural… Read More »
COVID-19 Vaccinations Mean A More Productive Workforce And A Tax Credit For Business Owners
The good news is that more than 29 percent of the population of Maryland and more than a quarter of the population of the District of Columbia is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The better news is that both Maryland and DC still have plenty of vaccine doses left to distribute. One out of every… Read More »
How To Incentivize Your Employees To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine
By all accounts, Maryland has done a commendable job of making COVID-19 vaccines available and reopening businesses for in-person activities. Still, the number of new vaccine doses being administered nationwide has plateaued. Currently, about a third of the population of the United States is fully vaccinated, which is encouraging, but hardly enough to achieve… Read More »
Protecting Your Business From Data Breaches
Did you hear about the pharmacy that paid a class action settlement to 800 patients whose identifying information got stolen when the pharmacy suffered a cyber-attack? What about the real estate investing company that paid a class action settlement to more than 1500 investors, property owners, and other business contacts who suffered financial losses… Read More »
What Maryland Business Owners Should Know About The New Corporate Transparency Act
Along with surprise medical bills, shell corporations could soon be a thing of the past. A shell corporation is a company that appears to belong to no one, sometimes because its dealings are so shady that no one wants to claim responsibility for it. People have set up shell corporations (or perhaps more accurately,… Read More »
The Employee Retention Tax Credit Could Help Your Company Save Money
The COVID-19 pandemic is dragging on into its second year, like a song with a catchy riff that eventually trails off into an endless outro of guitar noodling. The number of new COVID-19 infections is decreasing in most states, more people are getting vaccinated, and there are murmurings that some once-normal activities might be… Read More »
