COVID-19 Response Resource Center: Timely Counsel for your Business

On Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued revisions to their original regulations on paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). These revisions are in response to the Aug. 3, 2020 decision by a federal court in New York that invalidated portions of the original regulations. Most significantly, the revisions provide a new, narrower definition of who qualifies as a “health care provider” for purposes of the FFCRA.

Under the FFCRA, two types of paid leave were made available to employees working for an employer with fewer than 500 ... Read More 

A federal court in New York has invalidated portions of emergency Department of Labor (DOL) regulations that employers have been using to create their policies and determine whether to grant leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

Under the FFCRA, there are two leave laws that provide employees the ability to receive pay for certain absences relating to COVID-19. Summaries of these laws are available in our prior alerts: Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA).

The DOL issued regulations ... Read More 

The one constant in the COVID-19 pandemic is that the guidance keeps changing. We have highlighted it before and we’ll do it again: Part of every employer’s COVID-19 preparedness and response plan needs to include the designation of someone in the company who will periodically review the website for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other key organizations such as the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services for changes to their guidance on COVID-19 precautions.

On Monday, the CDC changed key elements in its recommendation for determining when a ... Read More 

Three agencies have provided updated guidance for employers on essential COVID-19 issues:

• The Department of Labor (DOL) addressed how new leave laws apply to these situations:
  
  • Domestic workers;
  • Those working through temporary agencies;
  • Employees who previously were working from home without the need for leave, but now need leave to care for children;
  • Handling employees absent for symptoms of COVID-19; and
  • Leave to care for children as schools close for the summer rather than due to COVID-19.
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) clarified how to handle the return of ...

On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law. The FFCRA contains two key provisions for employers – the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA). Both EFMLEA and EPSLA provide paid leave to employees for reasons related to COVID-19. On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued temporary regulations bolstering and clarifying these provisions of the FFCRA. Corrections to these regulations were later published on April 10, 2020. The DOL ... Read More 

On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law. The FFCRA contains two key provisions for employers – the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA). Both EFMLEA and EPSLA provide paid leave to employees for reasons related to COVID-19. On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued temporary regulations bolstering and clarifying these provisions of the FFCRA. Corrections to these regulations were later published on April 10, 2020. The DOL ... Read More 

The Department of Labor (DOL) shared more insights into the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). These latest additions to the DOL’s guidance include a few surprises, which we’ve highlighted here.

One of the biggest surprises was that the DOL provided two different definitions of the exact same words in the Act—Health Care Providers:

• For purposes of determining who can advise an employee to self-quarantine, a “health care provider” is limited to a licensed doctor of medicine, nurse practitioner, or other health care provider permitted to issue a ...

Yesterday, March 26, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional guidance on how the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) will be applied, the latest in a string of expected clarifications leading up to the April 1 effective date. The FFCRA includes the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA) and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA). This guidance provided several important clarifications for employers on the DOL’s enforcement policy.

Here are the highlights:

Implications of Furloughs and Closures

• Furloughed employees, or employees whose ...

Employers are faced with difficult and unpleasant choices in response to the current COVID-19 crisis. Some are closing down or reducing operations. This guidance addresses your rights and obligations concerning salaried employees, and suggests strategies available to you.

The general rule under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is, if an employee is “salaried” and works any time during a workweek, the full salary for the workweek is due. For these purposes, “salaried” refers to exempt employees subject to “white collar exemptions” under the FLSA ... Read More 

On March 17, 2020, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order No. 118 expanding the availability of unemployment insurance benefits to workers who have been affected by COVID-19 (commonly referred to as the coronavirus). The changes announced by Governor Cooper are consistent with U.S. Department of Labor guidance issued last week recommending that states utilize unemployment insurance benefits to lessen the financial burden caused by the coronavirus. Additionally, legislation currently pending before the U.S. Senate contains provisions that ... Read More