Friday, April 16, 2021
Amazon Workers Vote Down Union Organization Attempt, But Is That The Last Word?
Friday, April 9, 2021
EEOC FY2020 Statistics Released: Data Shows Fewer Charges Were Filed While Monetary Recoveries Surged
Author: Jill Waldman
Friday, March 26, 2021
More COVID-19 Leave Legislation on the Books in California – FAQ
Author: Tammy Somogye
Q: Who must provide the SB 95 leave?
A: California employers (including public entities) with more than 25 employees nationally.
Q. Who is eligible for the SB 95 leave?
Friday, March 19, 2021
New Dates for 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Report Submissions
Author: Jack Rowe
Friday, March 12, 2021
A Bajillion Dollars – What’s in it for Me (and my Employees)?!
Author: Bridget Romero
As you likely recall, The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provided workers with COVID-19 related sick leave benefits (and employers with a corresponding tax credit), which expired on December 31, 2020. Although employers are no longer obligated to offer such leave, a prior stimulus package extended the tax credits for employers that voluntarily continued to offer the paid leave through March 31, 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act now extends those tax credits yet again, this time through September 30, 2021. Meaning, while providing employees with COVID-19 related sick leave is still not mandatory for employers, the dollar-for-dollar payroll tax credit incentive to do so voluntarily has been extended until the Fall. New with this stimulus package is the expansion of leave for which tax credits are permitted, to include for example, time off to obtain a COVID vaccine.
All in all, while nobody it getting a bajillion dollars, this latest behemoth of a stimulus package is sure to create lots of activity in both our personal and professional lives.
Friday, March 5, 2021
Despite a Contract Disclaimer, Could Parts of Your Employee Handbook Be Legally Binding?
Author: Neil Goldsmith
By now, we are all familiar with the routine employee handbook disclaimer:
This Handbook is provided for informational purposes only and is not a contract between the Company and any employee.
Even with such a disclaimer in place, though, employers should be thoughtful when drafting and implementing detailed policies, particularly wage-related policies, as highlighted by a recent case out of Minnesota. In Minnesota, courts have often refused to construe an employee handbook as a contract when it contains a conspicuous contract disclaimer. In Hall v. City of Plainview, though, the Minnesota Supreme Court recently held that a disclaimer in an employee handbook did not preclude a breach of contract claim over a Paid Time Off (PTO) policy within a handbook.
Friday, February 19, 2021
Biden Administration Halts Trump-Era Independent Contractor Rule
Author: Caitlin Gehlen
This development effectively means that employers are still subject to the FLSA contractor test used prior to the DOL’s Trump-era final rule. Under that test, multiple factors need to be assessed when considering whether a worker qualifies as an independent contractor, including:
- The extent to which the services rendered by the worker are an integral part of the employer's business.
- The permanency of the relationship.
- The amount of the worker’s investment in facilities and equipment.
- The nature and degree of control by the employer.
- The worker’s opportunities for profit and loss.
- The amount of initiative, judgment, or foresight in open market competition with others required for the success of the worker.
- The degree of independent business organization and operation.
- The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
- The worker performs tasks that are outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business.
- The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity.
We will continue to monitor any legislative or executive changes on the classification front and update accordingly.