Florida has imposed a substantial new reporting requirement on employers and businesses who utilize independent contractors. Businesses need to be prepared; the new requirement takes effect October 1, 2021.… Continue Reading
Colorado employers should carefully review their vacation and paid time off policies following a recent decision from the Colorado Supreme Court. On June 14, 2021, the Colorado Supreme Court held in Nieto v. Clark’s Market that although the Colorado Wage Claim Act (CWCA) does not require employers to provide employees with vacation pay, if the … Continue Reading
California employers finally have clear guidance on the implications of failing to comply with California’s meal and rest break requirements under the Labor Code. Most businesses in California are familiar with meal and rest break requirements, and, equally so, with the penalty mandated by Section 226.7 of the Labor Code for violations—one hour of pay … Continue Reading
The old “80/20 rule” is back again for tipped workers under the latest proposed Final Rule issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) last month. Employers in the service industry, especially those employers who take a tip credit and/or implement a tip pool for their employees, should keep an eye on this latest Final Rule. … Continue Reading
Last month, President Biden rolled out “the American Families Plan,” a proposal that would phase in paid family and medical leave for employees with certain medical and family obligations. The proposal would cost around $225 billion over 10 years, which, according to the White House, would be paid mostly by upping taxes on the wealthy. … Continue Reading
Employers should continue to track and keep records of the percentage of time tipped wage earners spend performing non-tip eligible tasks, as the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has pressed pause on several provisions of the Trump Administration’s 2020 Final Rule addressing Tip Regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Among the provisions paused … Continue Reading
With COVID-19 vaccines now available to every adult in the United States, employers are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel after a year of uncertainty. But for employers whose workforces spent a year away from the office, a safe return to normalcy presents new legal, practical, and ethical questions.… Continue Reading
Employers should be busy preparing tailored COBRA continuation coverage notices for certain individuals, addressing complicated election and altered COBRA premium topics that took effect only in recent weeks. Below, we offer practical summaries and specific timing suggestions for the anxiously awaited model notices that have now been released. Notices will soon reach Americans who could … Continue Reading
California employers may not apply time-rounding procedures to meal period time entries, based on a recent California Supreme Court decision. The decision provides two key takeaways for California employers:… Continue Reading
Pay equity will be a focus of the Biden Administration, as was made clear in the White House Proclamation on Equal Pay Day last week. But states are not waiting on the federal government to act; several are moving forward with pay transparency and equity laws. California is the first state to enact its own … Continue Reading
A few recent cases may have savvy employers rethinking their military leave policies and choosing to pay employees on short-term military leave to the same extent they voluntarily pay employees benefits for other leaves of absence, such as jury duty, bereavement, and sick leave.… Continue Reading
Employers were required to distribute and file Forms W-2 by February 1. To the extent they have not already done so, employers should confirm that any leave wages paid in 2020 pursuant to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) were properly reported on Forms W-2. The Internal Revenue Service provided guidance concerning reporting of … Continue Reading
With the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021, immigration reform is on the near horizon. Employers are advised to stay abreast of fluid immigration policies that could have sweeping effects on the sponsorship of various foreign national workers. In addition, several immigration rules … Continue Reading
With no clear guidance and different factors being given different weight by different courts, employers have struggled for years with whether workers can be properly classified as independent contractors, rather than employees, under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Now, the Department of Labor has issued a new rule making clear what factors should be … Continue Reading
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”), signed into law on December 27, 2020, is the second-largest federal stimulus package of 2020, following the CARES Act. The CAA provides $900 billion in COVID relief and reserves $284 billion for small businesses through a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) forgivable loans, or as some … Continue Reading
With the certification of the Electoral College votes complete, Joe Biden will become President on January 20 and no doubt usher in sweeping changes. If you want to know what to expect, join us for a webinar on Tuesday, January 19 at noon Eastern. In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview:… Continue Reading
The pandemic relief package enacted by Congress in late December briefly extended the available payroll tax credits for leave provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) through March 31, 2021. The relief package did not extend the requirement to provide paid leave, so after December 31, 2020, employers are not mandated to provide … Continue Reading
2021 is here, and with the new year comes changes for New York employers seeking to ensure full compliance with newly effective laws, or changes to the law, throughout the State. Employers are well-advised to review the changes for the new year, summarized below.… Continue Reading
On November 3, 2020, nearly 60% of California voters approved a ballot measure to create a carve-out from the state’s expansive independent contractor law, AB 5, for drivers on technology platforms such as Lyft, Uber, Doordash, and Postmates. Proposition 22 essentially creates a new category of workers by allowing transportation technology companies to continue to … Continue Reading
Two new statutes affecting all employers operating in Colorado, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA) and paid sick leave through Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, will add to the compliance burden of all employers operating in Colorado effective January 1, 2021. The impact of each new law on employers is discussed below.… Continue Reading
The networks have called the Presidential election for Joe Biden. Assuming those results are certified and President Trump’s legal challenges fail, what should employers expect under the new administration? In Part I of this two-part series, let’s explore what changes we might see in the workplace from the employment law perspective. In Part II, we … Continue Reading
California has enacted a host of new laws impacting family and medical leave, coronavirus reporting obligations, workers compensation, pay gap data, worker classifications, and more. Here are the highlights, including when employers must abide by the new laws.… Continue Reading
New York employers waiting for clarification on the newly effective New York State Sick Leave Law (“Sick Leave Law”) need wait no longer: on October 20, 2020, the state issued initial guidance – titled the New York State Paid Sick Leave FAQ (the “Guidance”) – interpreting the law. The Sick Leave Law applies to all … Continue Reading
In response to a New York federal court striking certain aspects of the Department of Labor’s regulations interpreting the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), last week the DOL issued a revised Temporary Rule (the “Revised Rule”), in some ways resisting and in others yielding to the court’s ruling. In particular, the Revised Rule maintains … Continue Reading
