With the CARES Act being signed into law last week, one could mistakenly look past the requirements contained in the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) passed and signed into law the previous week, but you do not want to do that! The FFCRA became effective on Wednesday of this week, April 1, and mandates…
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In response to the recent coronavirus outbreak, employers everywhere are striving to limit the risk of exposure in the workplace. That means implementing workplace precautions, ensuring that sick leave policies and practices are effectively communicated to employees and familiarizing yourself with state and federal laws. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the…
Read More »The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new Opinion Letter last week prohibiting employers from delaying the designation of Family & Medical Leave. Citing the FMLA, the DOL letter states that when an eligible employee communicates a need for leave for an FMLA-qualified reason, neither the employee nor the employer may decline FMLA protection.…
Read More »The gridlock on joint employer notwithstanding, the Department of Labor (DOL) this week extended for three years the validity of current notices and medical certification forms for use in complying with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) The forms were set to expire last Friday, August 31, but have now been extended until…
Read More »Coming on the heels of their significantly increasing the overtime exemption threshold, the Department of Labor (DOL) has now issued an interim final rule that increases civil penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and all laws under their jurisdiction. Under the new regulation, which…
Read More »Our friends at the law firm of Murtha Culina advise us of an important appellate level court decision rendered last week that should send shivers around the human resources department. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rendered a decision last week that under certain readings of the Family Medical Leave Act, a company’s human resources…
Read More »We told you above that Governor Gerry Brown signed the Franchise Relations Act last Sunday, but what he also did that day was veto a bill that extending existing unpaid sick leave benefits to as much as 12 weeks of job-protected leave. The extension provided by Senate bill 406 would have allowed for leave to…
Read More »Employment law issues seem to be monopolizing the headlines of late and this past week was no exception, but one could call the series even in light of two decisions at the federal level. On the one hand, the federal court upheld the termination of an employee for violating the company’s no-call/no show policy. The…
Read More »US Courts recently released 2014 statistics showing an increase in the number of cases initiated in federal courts overall as well as under the specific provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Not surprisingly in light of the pro-labor bias shown over the past few years…
Read More »Under the provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), since 1993, eligible employees have been allowed to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons including to care for a spouse dealing with a medical issue. Spouse now includes those in same-sex marriages. The change ostensibly stems from the Defense of Marriage…
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