Rojgar Job News

Update August 16th: Late yesterday, I received further confirmation that the provisions regarding FMLA were withdrawn entirely from the proposed Democrat-led budget bill. Moreover, the General Assembly early this morning voted on a Republican version of the budget implementer, which now goes on to Governor Malloy (who has indicated he will veto the bill). That version did not contain language on the FMLA changes either. So for now, employers can stand down. However, employers should continue to track the changes both this year and next. FMLA changes may make a return at some point.    Update at 2:06 p.m.: Since publishing this article, I’ve now heard from three people who work at or with the legislature that while they can’t find fault with my analysis of the proposed legislation as described below, the section on FMLA was intended to address a separate issue.   As a result, it appears that the section on CTFMLA changes discussed below may be withdrawn this...

Yesterday, one of the measures floating around the Connecticut General Assembly regarding Paid Family Medical Leave passed a key committee vote. The bill still has a ways to go.  Indeed, as first reported by CT News Junkie, even the speaker of the house described it as a “work in progress”.  But now that’s closer to passage, it’s time employers start focusing on some of the key aspects – as framed currently. The bill (House Bill 5387) would require all private sector employees to contribute 0.5 percent of their paycheck to a fund that they could then use if they needed to take Family Medical Leave. The leave could last up to 12 weeks and the pay would be capped at up to $1,000 per week. The bill would radically change existing Connecticut FMLA by changing the number of employees required to be eligible for FMLA leave from 75 employees to just two. It would also, however, change the leave calculation period to be on a 12 weeks per 12 months basis, ...

Back in 2010, I wrote a simple blog post about how organ donors were protected under Connecticut’s FMLA law.  In it, I recount how my father — 25 years prior at that time — donated a kidney to his brother (my uncle).  At the time, I noted that both were well.   On Sunday, October 28, 2018, my uncle passed away after a short illness.   Dr. Allen Schwartz was retired as the Deputy Director of Policy and Enterprise solutions at NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities and recently served as a Senior Policy and Research Analyst at Westchester Institute for Human Development. He leaves behind his wonderful wife, Andrea, and two adult children.  Allen was blessed to contribute so much to society in the 33 years since that organ transplant and he will be sorely missed.  In honor of Allen, I’m reprinting the blog post below.  Become an organ donor today.   FROM THE ARCHIVES – Septemb...

It seems likely that some type of paid Family and Medical Leave (otherwise known as “Paid FMLA”) bill is going to pass the General Assembly. CBIA recently posted about the pitfalls that await employers with passage with one CBIA staff testifying that “small businesses are terrified of this proposal.”   But the “paid” aspect of the bill is only one part. I’m not going to cover that in this post, but there are plenty of resources already on what it might mean. What hasn’t been widely reported is that the bill would allow nearly  all employees at nearly  all companies in Connecticut to take protected family and medical leave — a monumental shift from the limits that are currently in place.  But in another way, it would expand the ability of employees to take  unpaid leave too. A caveat – there are various versions of the bill floating around.  For purposes of clarity, Bill No. 1 – w...

Late Friday, the House passed the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act bill that passed the Senate earlier in May.  Governor Lamont has indicated that he will sign the measure. As such, big changes are coming, though some of the biggest changes are are still a few years off. You can review the bill here; and you can review the bill analysis here.   A good portion of the (very long) bill concerns the set up and running of a new family leave insurance program that will provide wage replacement for employees who take leave.   I’m not going to recap that. Similarly, there’s a lot on the benefit programs that can be established by employers and the state.  Generally, employees who take FMLA leave will get some type of wage replacement for up to 12 weeks (with two additional weeks of benefits for a serious health condition that results in incapacitation during pregnancy.)  Employers can also provide benefits through a private plan, which must p...

On Friday, I presented a program on “Paid FMLA: Does It Leave You Confused?” at my firm’s semi-annual Labor & Employment Law Seminar, along with my Shipman & Goodwin colleague Chris Neary. Suffice to say that while the pun was well received, we had a number of attendees who left the seminar understanding that the breadth and scope of the state’s new Paid FMLA law may be far greater than they previously understood. Even now, the new Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority — a new quasi-public state agency — is still getting up and running.  One of my former colleagues, Henry Zaccardi, recently retired from Shipman & Goodwin and will be serving on the board. Of course, there’s still plenty of time to adjust to Paid FMLA. Payroll withholdings won’t start until 2021 and the employer requirements to offer such leave don’t start until 2022. But that still leaves employers with lots of questions to ask. Among...

Late on Friday, March 13, 2020, the Connecticut Department of Labor issued new FAQ for employees and employers dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of this may be repetitive of what I and others have posted before, but I thought it would be helpful to provide both a link to the materials but also some of the content relevant to employers as well. As the CTDOL notes, however, this FAQ should not be taken as legal gospel. It’s simply an attempt to provide some needed guidance here.  As you will see, it still leaves some decisions down to a case-by case basis. For example, if an employer requires an employee self-quarantine even though he/she is not sick (or, closes its doors for a 2 week period) and doesn’t pay its employees, are the employees eligible for unemployment? Probably, though the DOL says decisions will still be made on a case-by-case basis. Here are some other FAQ: What happens if an employer cuts an employee’s hours to part-time; is the employee sti...