Rojgar Job News

This pandemic is exhausting. There’s obviously the personal: The “work from home” novelty has worn off and now comes to tough part of trying to find the boundaries of work and home.  Each day feels like it is 16 hours long (maybe because it is sometimes). Then there’s the professional: We’ve continued to see clients with issues that they never thought they’d have to face.  Layoffs, furloughs, reduced pay & hours, and even shutdowns.  Everything has happened in just in a few weeks, it’s hard to remember the issues that seemed important even a month ago. And there’s the laws, regulations and guidances: I cannot recall another time where the law has changed so dramatically and swiftly over such a short period of time.  For lawyers who like to think through issues, it’s been a massive undertaking. I’ve have multiple calls with my peers at Shipman & Goodwin every day working through issues such as whethe...

Just another day in employment law. Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Labor issued new regulations that further expand what was previously known about the paid leave provisions of the EPSLA and the EFMLEA. You can view the regulations here.    They go into effect immediately. The regulations are lengthy and we’ll have a full recap on the Shipman & Goodwin Coronavirus Resource page on Thursday. But a quick glance at the regulations shows that there are some changes. For example, the definition of a quarantine or isolation order has been expanded to include certain shelter-in-place rules that have been issued in states.  Thus, employees who cannot work for an employer because of such orders may be eligible for leave (if they are still employed and not merely on furlough).  However, the key will be showing that “but for” the order, the employee would be working.  (And employees who can telework despite such an order do not qualify.) Moreo...

Before I talk about some developments, I wanted to share a story about David Lat – the founder of the Above The Law blog. He remains hospitalized in serious condition according to a report, still fighting COVID-19 and battling for his life.  (Saturday Update: He’s out of ICU!) He’s just 44 years old with a 2 year old son. I had one of my first encounters with the Above the Law blog way back in December 2007.  It was, frankly, exciting that my little employment law blog that I had just started a few months prior — got a shoutout.  My traffic spiked and I felt strangely validated.  I had other cites too over the years – and David couldn’t be more kind about it. Since that time, our paths have crossed multiple times. Five years ago, I had the opportunity to do a panel discussion with David on technology and the law. And he was as kind in person as you would hope. He had taken a train from NY to attend and shared his stories.  It...

The flood of information being produced by the government on the pandemic continues. Last night, the U.S. Department of Labor published a second round of guidance that is designed to help employers manage Paid Sick Leave and paid FMLA leave (EPSL and FMLA+).  (H/T FMLA Insights for the summary.) This is  different than the initial guidance that came out earlier this week because it answers some important questions that had been left unresolved. Here’s some of the items to know about: Just like FMLA, employees can be required to submit documentation to support the need for leave. Employees must generally take the leave in full-day increments. The DOL has clarified that intermittent leave  can be taken for child care reasons but only with the employer consent. Importantly, resolving an issue that I discussed on this blog before, an employee is not eligible for paid leave during a furlough or temporary layoff. Employees are also not allowed to “top off” ...

The United States Department of Labor recently updated its guidance on the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (FMLA+). My colleagues at Shipman & Goodwin recapped the new guidance here. One of the key takeaways from is that under the USDOL’s prior guidance and regulations, it was not clear if an employer could require an employee to use accrued leave during the 10-week period of FMLA+. In its recently issued guidance, the USDOL clarified that an employer can require employees to use accrued paid leave under the employer’s policies to cover absences under the FMLA+. The practical effect is that an employer might be able to require employees to use up their accrued leave while out on FMLA+, potentially exhausting their leave balances. Once employees exhaust their accrued leave, then they still will be able to receive 2/3 pay for the remainder of the FMLA+ leave. Sounds clear, right? Well, not exactly. The regulations ...