We know business owners and HR professionals have questions and need answers quickly to rapidly changing laws concerning the coronavirus (“COVID-19”).
Grab a cup of coffee, login in and join me for a complimentary webinar on Monday morning, March 23, at 10:00 a.m., as I share information on:
It took a little longer than expected, but the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) is now law. Initially expected to go before the Senate on Monday, the House bill met with much industry resistance. The House then made some “minor technical corrections” (if 75 pages of corrections is minor) on Monday before sending it to the Senate on Tuesday. On Wednesday, March 18, the Senate approved the Act 90-8 (two Senators, one of whom was Sen. Rick Scott, were missing from the vote — self-quarantined due to possible exposure) and the President signed the Act into law a few hours later.
The final Act differs quite a bit from the initial House bill. Below is a summary of the major provisions that apply to employers.
On March 20, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department, IRS, and the U.S. Department of Labor officially announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of the two new refundable payroll tax credits immediately. This relief would allow these employers to be fully reimbursed, dollar-for-dollar for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees.
The Act becomes effective April 2, 15 days from the date it was signed into law. There are two subsets of the Act:
Continue Reading President Signs Emergency Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employment Laws
If you are an employer wondering what’s going to happen as a result of the coronavirus, be prepared for some potentially big changes.
On Monday afternoon, March 16, the Senate will consider the House’s emergency bill to temporarily expand the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). If passed — and the general consensus is that it will pass with minor modifications on March 16, and be signed into law the same day – it will significantly expand FMLA coverage for the short term.
Please remember this is only a bill, not a law yet. We will update you when the President actually signs the bill into law (likely tonight), and let you know the final provisions of the law.Continue Reading Employers – Get Ready for Emergency Coronavirus Employment Laws
Henderson Franklin’s Employment Law and Workers’ Compensation teams invite business owners, HR professionals, in-house counsel and those wanting to stay up-to-date on issues impacting the workplace to attend the 28th Annual HR Law & Solutions Seminar on Thursday, March 26, 2020, at the Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa in Fort Myers, Florida. For more details, please click here to view or download the seminar brochure.
The day will kick-off with registration and a continental breakfast at 7:15 a.m. sponsored by Sanibel Captiva Community Bank. After the morning session, attendees will enjoy a plated lunch, sponsored by BKS-Partners, and conclude around 3:00 pm after an incredible inspiring session delivered by former US Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot, Elizabeth McCormick, sponsored by Contemporary Business Resources. Topics and speakers include:
The Department of Labor just issued updated FMLA forms, good through August 31, 2021. No more using “expired” forms! For anyone who was expecting “updated” to mean changed or improved…well, we are sorry to disappoint you – the only thing that was updated was the date! The forms are otherwise identical.
Continue Reading Department of Labor Releases Updated FMLA Forms
We are excited to announce that Suzanne Boy will be presenting at the Florida Law Alliance Employment Law Conference, taking place on Thursday, November 12, 2015 at the law offices of Hill, Ward & Henderson in Tampa, Florida. Henderson Franklin is a member of the Florida Law Alliance, a group of six independent law firms practicing throughout Florida. The firms have combined their knowledge, efforts, and resources to increase efficiency, lower costs, expand the scope and improve the quality of legal services each firm provides to its own clients.
Topics and Speakers
Avoiding and Defending Wage and Hour Class and Collective Actions presented by Attorney Craig Salner from the Clarke Silverglate firm in Miami. Employers know that the only lawsuit you win is the one that never gets filed. In the case of wage and hour litigation, this is particularly true of collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and class actions under State law counterparts. This presentation will focus ways to defend class and collective actions or better yet, avoid them altogether.
Continue Reading LGBT, Social Media and EEOC Charges to be addressed at Fall Employment Law Conference
This blog is a sequel to our previous post summarizing the rules and regulations governing an employee’s use of intermittent FMLA leave, which you can find here.
Managing employees’ requests for intermittent FMLA leave can be complicated and frustrating. Intermittent leave is difficult to track. It is often abused (or is it merely coincidental that leave is most often requested for a Friday, Monday, or the day before a holiday?!). Intermittent leave causes workplace disruption—especially when it is unforeseeable. Employee morale is often affected when co-workers are forced to pick up the slack for an absent co-worker. Although employees on intermittent leave may be temporarily reassigned to a different position, they must still be restored to their original position at the end of the approved leave period. No wonder that FMLA leave is a chronic HR headache!
Here are a few tips for treating this chronic headache:
Continue Reading Intermittent FMLA Leave: A Chronic HR Headache (Part II)
At HR Law & Solutions last month, attendees asked tough questions about handling requests for intermittent leave under the FMLA. We promised to write a blog post summarizing current rules and regulations, so here goes:
Intermittent leave is FMLA taken in periodic short blocks of time for a single FMLA qualifying reason. Common reasons for intermittent leave include time off for an employee’s occasional medical appointments, flare-ups of a chronic condition (ex. migraines), or periodic treatment of an ongoing disease (ex. chemotherapy). Intermittent leave can also be taken for a family member’s serious health condition or for military caregiver leave. Employers must also grant intermittent leave to an employee whose spouse, parent or child is called up for active military duty.Continue Reading Intermittent FMLA Leave: A Chronic HR Headache (Part I)
This month, the EEOC issued its controversial Enforcement Guidance: Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues. Of course, we all knew that pregnancy discrimination was unlawful, but did you know that according to the EEOC Guidance:
Consider this scenario:
Valerie has worked full time for a local hospital since December 2012. In January 2014, Valerie takes six weeks FMLA leave following the birth of her baby. In April 2014, Valerie gives the hospital notice that she will need additional FMLA leave this calendar year after she adopts her twelve-year old niece.
Which of the following statements is correct?
A. The hospital does not need to grant Valerie any more FMLA leave because she is adopting a family member.
B. The hospital must grant Valerie an additional twelve weeks of FMLA leave for the adoption since childbirth and adoption are separate qualifying conditions under the FMLA.
C. The hospital must grant Valerie up to an additional six weeks of FMLA leave only if the niece she adopts has a serious health condition.
D. The hospital must grant Valerie up to an additional six weeks of FMLA leave following the adoption.Continue Reading Employment Law IQ: Child Birth, Adoption and FMLA Leave