COVID-19

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Soon after San Jose passed its supplemental paid sick leave ordinance to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, it issued further guidance regarding the leave. The Director of the Office of Equality Assurance, the office charged with enforcement of the emergency ordinance, has also issued an opinion letter to provide additional information. The opinion letter addresses…

The current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 crisis have brought paid family and medical leave to the forefront of the national consciousness. While the federal government and other states have created new, immediately effective, paid family and medical leave laws, Massachusetts has remained committed to the existing timeframe for the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act…

Employers have been struggling with exactly what information they are permitted to disclose to a public health agency when an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19. The EEOC yesterday for the first time advised that, at least under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers may disclose the employee’s name to the public health agency. However, employers…

Under Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) law, an employer normally may require verification (including a doctor’s note) for the use of PSST after three consecutive workdays in which the employee uses paid sick/safe leave. But effective immediately and through June 7, 2020, employers may not require a doctor’s note or healthcare provider…

The EEOC published a recorded webinar on March 27.  The EEOC uses a Q and A format to address 22 common questions from employers covering a broad range of topics including among other things, taking employees temperatures, appropriate and inappropriate disclosure of information related to an employee’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and managing employee accommodation requests including…

The Department of Labor issued additional FAQs on Thursday March 26. They now offer 37 FAQs on how the paid sick leave and expanded FMLA leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act will apply. The leave obligations begin April 1, 2020.

As more and more employers are required to shutdown due to state orders…

Effective March 18, 2020, the Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinance allows eligible employees working in Seattle to use PSST when their family member’s school or place of care is closed, regardless of whether such closure is made by a public official. In addition, when “Tier 3” employers (with 250 or more full…