I. Introduction
On March 18, 2020, the President signed The Emergency Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Bill”) into law. The Bill responds to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and provides for two new, overlapping paid leave requirements for employers. The first is an amendment to the FMLA, while the other is a separate new,
DOL’s Proposed Rule Updates the Meaning of “Regular Rate” for the Modern Workplace
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a proposed rule to update regular rate calculations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Under the FLSA, employers must pay overtime pay to employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. The overtime pay rate is one and a half times an employee’s
What to Do with Exiting Employees’ Unused Vacation Time? Stick to Your Policy, Says Ohio Court of Appeals
When an employee leaves an organization, one issue the employer often confronts is whether to pay the employee for unused vacation time or other paid time off (PTO). The employer may seek to withhold PTO for myriad reasons: from encouraging employees to use their PTO during employment, to offsetting an employee debt, to encouraging compliance
Association Health Plans Get Boost From Labor Department
The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor has just released for public consideration, and published for comment, a significant new interpretation of the term “employer” under ERISA. Under the proposal, small businesses and sole proprietors would have more freedom to band together to provide health coverage for employees in what are
An Alternative for Employers in Jurisdictions with Mandatory Paid Leave Laws
On Thursday, November 2, 2017, Mimi Walters (R-California), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), and Elise Stefanik (R-New York) introduced in the House of Representatives the Workplace in the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4219). The bill would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to include a voluntary option for employers to provide employees with
Asking Job Applicants for Salary Histories? Use Caution.
As my colleague Keith Ashmus recently noted, most employers currently ask job applicants for their salary histories. This is a reasonable question, and one that employers find useful to help attract and retain talented employees. Given recent legislative initiatives and judicial decisions on this topic, however, employers should tread carefully.
In the past few
The MacArthur Amendment and Employer Health Plans
Representative Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), a leader of the so-called “Tuesday Group” of moderate Republicans, introduced an amendment to the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”) (Kaiser Family Foundation summary) after negotiations with the Freedom Caucus, the group of conservative House Republicans. The MacArthur Amendment does several things designed to obtain conservative support for the
Congress Creates New Benefit Plan Opportunity For Small Business
Within the many pages of the 21st Century Cures Act, just passed by Congress and awaiting signature by President Obama, is the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act. This creates a new health benefit plan for small employers called Qualified Small Employer Health
Employers Should Brace for Paid Leave Requirements at Both the State and Federal Levels
As the results of the November 2016 election confirmed, there is a growing push throughout the country to require employers to provide certain types of paid leave to their employees. To date, we have witnessed the imposition of paid leave requirements through ballot initiatives, legislation, and executive orders. The most popular forms of paid leave
The Upper Midwest Continues to Fill the Gap Between the East and West Coasts on Paid Sick Leave
Since Connecticut’s 2011 passage of the first law requiring employers to issue paid sick leave benefits, over 30 states, counties, and cities — mostly on the East and West coasts — have enacted similar statues. These include Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Vermont, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, and Philadelphia. Chicago and Minneapolis have also passed