Due to a surplus in the District of Columbia’s Universal Paid Leave Fund, the number of weeks of paid leave available to D.C. workers under D.C.’s Universal Paid Leave Act will significantly increase on July 1, 2022.

Read more here.

While many employers are concerned with complying with the recently passed statewide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave, employers should also be aware of the interactions between regular paid sick leave and COVID-19 related absences. As such, employers are well-served to stay current on the latest updates for San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance.

The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) recently issued a temporary update to its guidance regarding San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave ordinance and COVID-19. The following is a summary of the temporary changes made to that guidance.

Read the full article on Jackson Lewis’ California Workplace Law Blog.

In response to requests across the country, and following a number of states who have relaxed or removed their mask requirements, CDC has relaxed its mask recommendations.  Today, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidance on when masks should be worn indoors.  The guidance categorizes communities into high, medium and low risk based on new COVID-19 hospitalizations, current beds occupied by COVID-19 patients or hospital capacity, and new COVID-19 cases.  Masks are no longer recommended by CDC for those in medium and low risk areas (roughly 70% of the country).  However, immunocompromised individuals (or others at high risk for COVID-19) should consult with their healthcare provider about whether to wear a mask in medium risk areas.  Masks continue to be recommended for everyone (regardless of vaccination status) in high risk areas and continue to be required on public transportation.  This new guidance is not expected to change the CDC’s guidance for individuals who have symptoms, have tested positive, or have had recent exposure.  And of course, individuals can still choose to wear a mask in medium and low risk areas.  CDC will post the new risk areas on its website.

Employers are reminded to check state and local requirements, which may be different.

 

On February 19, 2022, the newest statewide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave took effect.

California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has published an FAQ Page to provide guidance regarding COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL).

The new FAQ page covers questions pertaining to the following:

  • Reasons for Taking Leave
  • Start Date and End Date
  • Requesting Leave from An Employer
  • Calculating an Employee’s Hours of Leave
  • Permissive Limits on Use and Verification
  • Credits
  • Payment of Leave, Record-Keeping, and Paystubs
  • Enforcement
  • Relation to Other Laws

There is some information in the FAQs that employers should take special note of.

Retroactive Payment

Retroactive payments are only required if the covered employee requests retroactive time for qualified absences prior to February 19, 2022.

Employers may request documentation if the employee is requesting retroactive leave for the employee or a qualifying family member testing positive for COVID-19.

This documentation could include, among other things, a medical record of the test result, an e-mail or text from the testing company with the results, a picture of the test result, or a contemporaneous text or e-mail from the employee to the employer stating that the employee or a qualifying family member tested positive for COVID-19.

If retroactive payment is being sought from the hours that an employee may use for any other qualifying reason employer may not deny a worker 2022 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave based solely on a lack of certification from a health care provider.

Wage Statement

The itemized wage statement or separate writing requirement ensures covered employees understand how many separate hours they have used for 2022 COVID-specific sick leave. The 2022 SPSL differs from the 2021 SPSL in that the paystub must list what has been used instead of what is available to use.  If no hours have yet been used then the paystub or other writing issued at the time wages are paid must indicate 0.

In addition, Labor Code Section 247.5 requires that records be kept for a three-year period on regular paid sick days and 2022 SPSL days accrued and used and that the records be made available to the Labor Commissioner or employee upon request.

Notice Requirement

Under California law, employers are required to display the required poster about 2022 SPSL in a place at the worksite where employees can easily read it.

If an employer’s covered employees do not frequent a workplace, the employer may satisfy the notice requirement by disseminating notice through electronic means.

If you have questions about 2022 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave or related issues, contact a Jackson Lewis attorney to discuss.

On February 9, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 114 which resurrects COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) for 2022.

The following are answers that employers need to their questions regarding the latest edition of California SPSL.

When does SPSL become effective?

SPSL becomes effective February 19, 2022, 10 days after enactment. However, the statute applies retroactively to January 1, 2022.

How long will SPSL be in effect?

SPSL requirements will remain in effect until September 30, 2022.

Read the full article at Jackson Lewis’ California Workplace Law Blog.

 In late January, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he and the legislature had reached an agreement on a framework to revive COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL), which expired in September 2021. However, there was no bill and only speculation on what coverage would look like.

On February 2, 2022, Assembly Bill 84, which details the newest version of SPSL, was released. Though still pending in the state legislature, there has been a promise by the state to move quickly to pass this bill.  As a budget bill, once signed by the governor, the bill will take effect immediately. A mirror version, Senate Bill 114, is anticipated to be released in the California Senate.  It is common for budget-related bills to have mirror bills in both the Assembly and the Senate to allow them to move more quickly through the legislature. Whichever bill moves more quickly is likely to be final.

Read the full article at Jackson Lewis’ California Workplace Law Blog. 

The Connecticut Department of Labor has released proposed regulations for the amended Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act, which was effective January 1, 2022. The proposed regulations will be subject to a 30-day comment period, ending on February 28. A virtual hearing on the proposed regulations will take place on February 17.

Importantly, these proposed regulations will not be adopted until after the close of the comment period and are subject to change based on comments received. Therefore, we may not see final regulations until a few months after the effective date of the CT FMLA amendments.

The proposed regulations contain provisions related to the significant expansion of CT FMLA, including relevant definitions, the process for verifying familial relationships, and the ability for employees to proceed directly to court with complaints of CT FMLA violations. In addition, the proposed regulations also address issues not directly related to the amendments, including fitness-for-duty requests, contact with employees’ medical providers to obtain clarification and authentication of certifications, reasons for recertification requests, and other topics.

We will continue to monitor the status and eventual adoption of the proposed regulations.

If you have questions, please contact the Jackson Lewis attorney with whom you regularly work.

The federal court that issued a nationwide injunction of Executive Order (EO) 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors,” has issued a new Order stating that it enjoined only the vaccine requirement of the EO’s implementing tool: the Safer Federal Taskforce (Safer Taskforce) Guidance. As a result of this Order, federal contractors covered by the EO should dust off their compliance plans to meet the many non-vaccine requirements of the Safer Taskforce Guidance, though action by other federal courts considering preliminary injunctions of the EO may put all of the requirements back on hold.

Read our alert on the current status of EO 14042 and the requirements for federal contractors.

 

The list of laws and regulations governing vaccinations and testing is growing and changing at a frenetic pace. Employers can add U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) guidance on the compensability of time spent undergoing testing and vaccinations to that list. Read more about the status of DOL guidance.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has withdrawn its enforcement of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring most employers to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or tests for employees.

OSHA’s announcement follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to grant a temporary stay of the ETS. This move most likely renders litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit deciding the merits of the ETS moot.

Although it withdrew its enforcement of the ETS, OSHA left its provisions in place to serve as a notice of proposed rulemaking for a permanent rule under the rulemaking process pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act.

In December 2021, OSHA withdrew its healthcare emergency temporary standard issued in June 2021 for healthcare employers, but the agency since has pledged to promulgate a permanent COVID-19 standard for healthcare employers in about six to nine months. The agency could potentially use both withdrawn emergency temporary standards to issue a single rule for COVID-19 applicable to healthcare and other industries in which COVID-19 may be considered an occupational hazard.

In the absence of OSHA standards governing COVID-19, employers not covered by another federal, state, or local mandate may choose to implement policies and practices best-suited to the unique needs of their workplace, keeping in mind that OSHA State Plan states may elect to promulgate standards of their own. In addition, OSHA is continuing enforcement of longstanding standards governing respiratory protection, personal protective equipment and sanitization. It also is continuing enforcement of the General Duty Clause to address recognized hazards, including workplace response to COVID-19.

In all cases, employers should communicate clearly with their employees about any change in their policies and practices, continue to monitor all circumstances, and make additional changes as necessary. Employers that choose to maintain workplace vaccination policies must still follow other applicable laws (such as Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act) and be cognizant of state and local requirements, including the laws in states like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia, that impact employer vaccination policies.

If you have questions or need assistance on the OSHA ETS, please reach out to the Jackson Lewis attorney with whom you regularly work, or any member of our Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group or our OSHA ETS Team.