OSHA Issues Guidance on Protecting Workers From COVID-19
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued guidance entitled “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace” (“Guidance”). The Guidance does not create any new obligations for employers. Rather, it provides recommendations, advice and information for employers, who have a general duty to provide […]
Watch Out for Retaliation!
On February 26, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released details regarding workplace discrimination charges filed with the EEOC in Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2020, which ended on September 30, 2020. Of the 67,448 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received in FY 2020, more than half – 37,632 (55.8% of all charges filed) […]
NYS DOL Expands Eligibility for Partial Unemployment Benefits
As of January 18, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYS DOL”) changed its rules on eligibility for partial unemployment benefits. The NYS DOL now counts hours, not days, worked per week. Workers may be eligible for partial unemployment benefits for weeks in which they (a) work 30 or fewer hours; and (b) […]
US DOL Expands Eligibility for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
On February 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) added three COVID-19 related reasons for which workers may be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (“PUA”). The three new categories of workers eligible for PUA are: Workers who received unemployment benefits but whose continued claims were denied after they refused to either return to work […]
Employers Must Initiate Interactive Process for Employees with Disabilities
Three recent cases remind employers that they are obligated to initiate the interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations for job applicants and employees with disabilities. Saint Clare’s Health hired Taylor McKay as an EMS dispatcher. Five days before her scheduled start date, McKay was hospitalized and induced into early labor due to preeclampsia, a pregnancy-related […]
Religious Teachers and the Ministerial Exception According to the US DOL
The Department of Labor (“DOL”), in its opinion letter FLSA2021-2, recently concluded that private religious school teachers may be exempt from the wage and hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) if such teachers qualify as “ministers.” Last summer, in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the […]
EEOC Addresses COVID-19 Vaccination
Numerous healthcare workers have been injected with the COVID-19 vaccine and it is only a matter of time until the vaccine becomes available to all eligible workers throughout the country. In light of this, on December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) answered questions about mandatory vaccination of employees in its guidance entitled, […]
Federal COVID-19 Leave Law Ended but NYS and NJ Laws Mandate COVID-19 Leave
As of January 1, 2021, employers are no longer required by federal law to provide paid sick leave to employees for reasons related to COVID-19. The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which mandated such leaves, expired as of December 31, 2020, and was not extended. The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA 2021), enacted […]
3 Tips for Handling Remote Worker Reimbursement Claims
Chaim Book was quoted in a Law360 article published today, titled “3 Tips for Handling Remote Worker Reimbursement Claims” and authored by Mike LaSusa.
End of 2020 Reminders for NYS and NJ Employers
As this unusual year nears its end, New York (NYS) and New Jersey (NJ) employers must be mindful of several changes to employment laws that will go into effect as of 2021. New York Paid Family Leave (PFL): Starting on January 1, 2021, the amount of paid family leave available to eligible employees under NYS […]
