On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Corona Virus Response Act. The Families First Act requires small and midsized employers to provide paid sick leave benefits and expanded FMLA leave to employees needing time away from work due to COVID-19 reasons. While the Act provide others benefits, the FMLA Expansion Act and
House Passes Bill to Amend FMLA for COVID-19 Related Leaves of Absence
On March 14, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Emergency Paid Leave Act of 2020. The Bills, if passed by the Senate, will provide: paid sick leave and unemployment benefits to employees taking leave as a result of COVID-19; expand FMLA eligibility and qualifying reasons for taking
DOL Publishes The Employer’s Guide to the FMLA: And its Pretty Good!
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division published The Employer’s Guide to the FMLA. The Department intended the Guide to be an informational resource to “provide essential information about the FMLA” and increase employer’s knowledge of the law, obligations and options available to employers administering FMLA leave.
The Guide is
HR Directors Beware: You Too Can be Sued for FMLA Violations
A recent case from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals should remind HR Directors (and supervisors) to be particularly vigilant in handling employee FMLA leaves of absence. In Graziadio v. Culinary Institute of America, the appellate court reversed a trial court victory for the employer and the two individual supervisors (one of whom was
Delivery of FMLA Notices by First Class Mail Does Not Rule Out Disputes Over Receipt of Notice
The DOL regulations require FMLA-covered employers to provide various notices to employees. The regulations do not dictate how all of the notices must be delivered. Most employers utilize hand-delivery or regular U.S. mail for most pre-leave notices (eligibility and pre-leave designations) and use U.S. mail almost exclusively for post-leave notices (i.e., when the employee is already out
DOL Proposes Rule to Extend FMLA Benefits to Same-Sex Spouses in Texas
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor published a proposed rule to extend FMLA benefits to same-sex spouses on the same terms as spouses of other legally recognized marriages. This will confirm, if passed, that FMLA benefits must be provided to all eligible employees to: care for their legally married spouses who have a serious health
FMLA Doesn’t Always Require Reinstatement to an Equivalent Position
While the FMLA normally requires an eligible employee be reinstated to an equivalent position at the end of his FMLA leave, the employee has no greater right to reinstatement than if the employee had been continually employed. Thus, there are several situations where an employee is not entitled to reinstatement.
First, where an employer conducts a layoff or reduction
Which Employment Law Would You Vaporize?
Walter Olson at Overlawyered started they debate by asking “If I could press a button and instantly vaporize one sector of employment law…” He answered age discrimination. I’ll let him defend his selection and you can read his explanation here.
Jon Hyman and Daniel Schwartz weighed in that they would reform the depression-era outdated Fair
Using GPS Tracking Technology to Prove Intermittent FMLA Abuse?
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide next term whether it is law enforcement’s warrantless placement of GPS devices on a suspect’s vehicle amounts to an unlawful search or seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Fifth Circuit has already authorized law enforcement’s use of this warrantless tactic. Similarly, a New Jersey court has blessed a spouse’s use of GPS
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
If I had a dollar for every time I reminded a client that "no good deed goes unpunished," my childrens’ college funds would be flush and I’d be planning to retire early. The recent case of Terwilliger v. Howard Mem. Hosp. (W.D. Ark. 1/27/2011) reminds us that employees will often attempt to ensure that "no good