Employment Law Alerts

Employers who are considering resuming their operations (or employers who have already resumed operations) should consider the benefits of putting in place a COVID-19 waiver for employees and visitors. This can be effective for employees who decide to voluntarily return to work. Such a waiver could limit the employer’s liability in the event an employee or a visitor contracts the coronavirus in ...

On July 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it is funding an in-depth statistical analysis on the EEO-1 Component 2 pay data collected for FY 2017 and 2018. In the past, covered employers were required to provide data broken down by job category, sex, race, and ethnicity. Component 2 required covered employers to provide pay data and number of hours ...

by Barry Salkin, Roberta Casper Watson and Livia Quan Aber The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which was enacted as part of the CARES Act, allows businesses to borrow funds that are guaranteed by the federal government to be used to pay certain operating expenses during the COVID-19 emergency. The loan bears interest at 1% and has a maturity of two years. The loan may be forgiven if at least ...

by Barry Salkin, Roberta Casper Watson and Livia Quan Aber The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) established tax credits under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.  We have discussed these credits in a previous Law Alert.  Most recently, the CARES Act added an employee retention credit. The CARES Act employee retention tax ...

One of the realities created by the COVID-19 pandemic is that more employees are working remotely than ever before.  This change raises legal and business issues that have caught many companies off guard.  Companies designed policies and trained management pre-COVID19 based on the presumption that most employees worked in the physical office.  With the shift in the landscape, it is advisable to ...

by Roberta Watson, Barry Salkin and Virginia Peabody This Law Alert serves as an update to the Law Alert sent out on March 19, 2020 concerning the paid leave and group health plan provisions of The Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Effective April 1, 2020, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (the “Sick Leave Act”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (the “FMLA Expansion ...

During these uncertain times, layoffs, both long term and temporary, are on the rise. Naturally, it is very important for employers to plan layoffs carefully, even when they must be implemented quickly. 1.  Identifying Employees. The list of employees selected for a temporary layoff should be carefully reviewed to ensure that there is no unnecessary adverse impact on employees in a protected ...

by Roberta Watson, Barry Salkin and Virginia Peabody Effective no later than April 2, 2020, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (the “Sick Leave Act”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (the “FMLA Expansion Act”), two of the divisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Families First Act”), provide paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave to ...

Allowing employees to telecommute is an excellent accommodation. While this option supports continued business productivity, be sure to properly track the time worked so that you do not expose your business to claims for unpaid wages or overtime. Be sure to centralize and communicate decisions regarding who can and who cannot telecommute. This will limit the risk of claims for discriminatory ...

On December 6, 2019, the Second Circuit held that an employee does not have to show that she received less pay for equal work in order to prevail in an unequal pay claim. Instead, she only has to prove that the employer discriminated against her because of her gender. She does not have to prove that a member of the opposite sex held an equal but higher paying job. Essentially, employees do not ...