Since March 2020, New York State law has required employers to provide job protected sick leave for employees subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 and who are unable to telework (“COVID-19 Sick Leave”). Last week, the New York State Department of Labor issued additional guidance that appears to significantly expand employees’ entitlement to COVID-19 Sick Leave.
Read MoreThe FDA has begun the process of approving vaccines for COVID-19, and many employers have raised questions regarding whether and how to implement a vaccination protocol in the workplace. Yesterday, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (“EEOC”) issued guidance for employers on how the vaccine interacts with federal equal employment opportunity laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”), and Title VII.
Read MoreAs addressed in our prior client alert, New York State enacted state-wide mandatory sick/safe leave earlier this year. Recently, the NYS Department of Labor issued proposed regulations, providing additional guidance on the implementation of the law. The proposed regulations are narrow and primarily address three issues: (1) requiring employee documentation of the use of sick/safe leave, (2) counting employees to determine how much sick/safe leave an employer must offer, and (3) rounding time worked to determine employee accruals. Notably, the proposed regulations do not address many of the open questions surrounding the law, such as the impact of the law on existing collective bargaining agreements and the extent to which frontloading sick/safe leave removes the need to carryover unused leave.
Read MoreEmployers planning for certain mass layoffs, relocations, plant closings or other covered employment losses have long needed to be mindful of the federal and state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) Acts. Though complex, in brief, these statutes impose specific and detailed notification requirements on covered employers well in advance of any covered employment loss. Last week, New York State amended its WARN notification requirements.
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