Law and the Workplace

Category Archives: Leaves of Absences

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D.C. Paid Leave Law Changes Go Into Effect October 1, 2022

By Guy Brenner, Laura Fant and Caroline Libby on Posted in Leaves of Absences
Seal of the District of ColumbiaThis past July, the Council of the District of Columbia amended its statutory requirements for Universal Paid Leave through the Universal Paid Leave Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 (the “Act”). The amendments made to the D.C. paid leave program by the Act, among other things, increase the maximum duration of paid leave benefits, decrease the … Continue Reading

New York Extends Paid Leave for COVID Vaccinations for an Additional Year

By Evandro Gigante and Laura Fant on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed into law a bill extending the State’s COVID vaccine paid leave law for an additional year, to December 31, 2023. As we previously reported, the law requires New York employers to provide employees with “a sufficient period of time, not to exceed four hours” of paid leave per … Continue Reading

7th Circuit: Actual Denial of Leave Not Necessary for FMLA Interference Claim

By Steven J. Pearlman, Edward Young and Dakota D. Treece on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
On June 1, 2022, the Seventh Circuit reversed the entry of summary judgment on a Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) claim, holding that an actual denial of an employee’s FMLA leave request is not necessary to constitute an FMLA violation. Rather, the FMLA may be violated where an employer discourages an employee from taking … Continue Reading

Delaware Becomes Latest State to Institute Paid Family and Medical Leave

By Evandro Gigante, Laura Fant and Morgan Peterson on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
On May 10, 2022, Delaware Governor John Carey signed into law a bill that will require private employers with ten or more employees in Delaware to provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave beginning in January 2026, one year after payroll tax deductions to fund the program begin on January 1, … Continue Reading

Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program to End March 15, 2022

By Arielle E. Kobetz, Rebecca Fishbein and Mark W. Batten on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Insurance has announced that the Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (“MEPSL”) will expire on March 15, 2022, and employers have until April 29, 2022 to file their applications for reimbursements. This means employees may continue to take leave under the program through March 15th, but employers then have until … Continue Reading

New York Paid Family Leave Law Amended to Allow Leave to Care for Siblings

By Evandro Gigante and Arielle E. Kobetz on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an amendment to the New York Paid Family Leave Law (NYPFLL), which will allow employees to take leave to care for siblings with a serious health condition. In effect since 2018, the NYPFLL provides a phased-in system of paid, job protected leave for eligible employees: (i) to … Continue Reading

D.C. Paid Leave Program Amended to Expand Benefits

By Guy Brenner and Laura Fant on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Seal of the District of ColumbiaSignificant changes have arrived for paid medical, parental, and family care leave in Washington, D.C following the recent enactment of the Universal Paid Leave Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (“PLEAA”).  Effective October 1, 2021 (with a minor exception for expanded personal medical leave, discussed below), the PLEAA amends the D.C. Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Enacts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave

By Mark W. Batten and Heylee Bernstein on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
CoronovirusLast week, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation providing for COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave for Massachusetts employees. Governor Baker vetoed an earlier version of the bill in April. The revised bill, signed into law on May 28, 2021, takes effect on Monday, June 7, 2021. Employees are eligible for COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccine Leave Law

By Evandro Gigante, Arielle E. Kobetz and Alex Downie on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
The New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) has issued guidance on the State’s recently enacted COVID-19 vaccine leave law, which went into effect on March 12, 2021.  As we previously reported, the law requires employers to provide employees with “a sufficient period of time, not to exceed four hours” per dose to be vaccinated … Continue Reading

Congress Passes American Rescue Plan: What Employers Need to Know

By Evandro Gigante, Harris Mufson, Allison Martin, Jacob P. Tucker, Alex Downie and Julia Hollreiser on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences, Workplace Safety
Congressional SealOn March 10, 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“Rescue Plan”), a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package intended to provide continued economic relief to individuals, businesses, and state and local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law. The following is a summary of … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Additional Guidance on COVID-19 Quarantine Leave Law

By Evandro Gigante, Harris Mufson, Alex Downie and Rebecca Fishbein on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
***UPDATE: New York State has modified its Paid Family Leave COVID-19 FAQs for Employees to reflect this New York State Department of Labor guidance. We will continue to monitor New York’s COVID-19 leave law and provide updates.*** On January 20, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor issued new guidance on the state’s COVID-19 … Continue Reading

Congress Extends FFCRA Tax Credit into 2021, Declines to Extend FFCRA Leave

By Abigail Rosenblum, Alex Downie, Evandro Gigante and Harris Mufson on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), which requires that employers with fewer than 500 employees provide sick and family leave benefits for certain COVID-19 related reasons, is due to sunset on December 31, 2020. Many believed that the FFCRA’s sick and family leave provisions would be extended into 2021 as part of the … Continue Reading

Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Become Available in Massachusetts on January 1st: Is Your Workplace Ready?

By Lexie Reynolds, Heylee Bernstein, Mark W. Batten and Thomas B. Fiascone on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
For Massachusetts employers, or employers with Massachusetts-based employees, Paid Family and Medical Leave (“PFML”) has been on the horizon for nearly two years. By now, you have notified your workforce about benefits and contributions, displayed a poster informing them of the same, determined the size of your workforce and who is a “covered individual,” begun … Continue Reading

New York Releases Guidance and FAQs on Statewide Paid Sick Leave Law

By Evandro Gigante and Laura Fant on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
New York State has released an informal guidance page, including frequently asked questions, regarding the newly enacted statewide paid sick leave law, which took effect on September 30, 2020. As we have previously reported, the law requires employers with New York employees to provide a certain amount of paid or unpaid sick leave to be … Continue Reading

Election Season and the Workplace, Part 2: Political Leave Laws

By Allan Bloom, Alex Downie and Laura Fant on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
With Election Day just around the corner, we are highlighting some of the issues facing employers in a series of posts on election-related issues. In our first installment, we looked at employee protections around political speech and activity both in and outside the workplace. In this second installment, we’ll examine employees’ rights to take time … Continue Reading

[Podcast]: Recent Developments on California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law

By Harris Mufson and Philippe A. Lebel on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partner Harris Mufson and associate Phil Lebel discuss recent legal developments in California, specifically a new supplemental paid sick leave law and coronavirus (COVID-19) exposure notification requirements. Tune in as we discuss steps employers can take to ensure compliance with these new requirements. Listen to the podcast.  … Continue Reading

UPDATED: NYC Council Passes Bill to Align ESSTA with New York State Paid Sick Leave Law

By Evandro Gigante and Laura Fant on Posted in Leaves of Absences
*** UPDATE: Mayor de Blasio signed the bill into law on September 28, and it took effect on September 30, 2020, except as otherwise set forth below.  Additionally, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has announced that employers now have until January 1, 2021 to comply with the pay statement reporting requirements discussed below … Continue Reading

Reminder: New York State Paid Sick Leave Law Takes Effect September 30

By Arielle E. Kobetz and Evandro Gigante on Posted in Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
As we previously reported, the New York State paid sick leave law will take effect, and covered employees will begin accruing leave time, on September 30, 2020. However, employees may be restricted from utilizing accrued sick leave until January 1, 2021. As set forth in our previous blog: Employers with 4 or fewer employees and … Continue Reading

DOL Updates FFCRA Regulations in Light of Recent SDNY Decision

By Alex Downie, Evandro Gigante and Laura Fant on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
On September 11, 2020 the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued revised Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) regulations in response to a federal court decision striking down certain portions of its previous regulations. The FFCRA is a federal law that requires certain employers to provide: (1) two weeks of paid sick leave to employees … Continue Reading

Intersection Between Return-to-School and FFCRA

By Evandro Gigante, Harris Mufson and Jurate Schwartz on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences, Workplace Policies and Procedures
As we have previously reported, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which remains in effect through December 31, 2020, provides, among other things, that eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave if the employee is unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave to care for their … Continue Reading

DOL Releases Additional COVID-19 Guidance Related to FFCRA, FMLA and FLSA

By Arielle E. Kobetz, Laura Fant, Heylee Bernstein and Guy Brenner on Posted in Coronavirus, FLSA, Leaves of Absences, Wage and Hour
As we have previously reported, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) continues to update its COVID-19 guidance. Most recently, on July 20, 2020, the DOL issued additional Q and A guidance related to COVID-19 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Families First Coronavirus Response … Continue Reading

Colorado Governor Signs Paid Sick Leave Act into Law

By Abigail Rosenblum, Evandro Gigante, Harris Mufson and Laura Fant on Posted in Coronavirus, Leaves of Absences
Colorado State SealAmid the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (“the Act”) into law. Beginning next year (or later for small employers), the Act will require employers in Colorado to provide employees with up to six paid sick days a year – and more if there is a public health … Continue Reading

U.S. Department of Labor Releases New FMLA Forms and Requests Public Input on Existing Regulations

By Evandro Gigante, Heylee Bernstein and Laura Fant on Posted in Leaves of Absences
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has released new and significantly revised versions of its model notice of rights, certification, and designation forms under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). According to a press release by the DOL, the new forms, which are now currently in effect and can be found on the … Continue Reading
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