Big thanks to Kim Sartin in our London office for her contributions to this post. As many businesses start to reopen, and travel restrictions are lifted in some locations, employers are gearing up for the inevitable question — when can employees travel? At the moment, we’re certainly seeing companies re-starting business travel that is deemed essential, but it would be an unusual case where an employer was making it mandatory for employees. Here is a…

We recently published an update to our 50-state Shelter-In-Place / Reopening Tracker. Please see HERE. This is updated weekly. For your convenience, here is a summary of the major updates from around the country: The Governors of Connecticut, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and Vermont extended their emergency declaration orders and/or the duration of the current phase of their reopening plans. Louisiana and New Jersey moved to the next phase of their respective reopening…

California’s latest move on the COVID-19 front is an attempt to fill the gap left by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) – and requires larger employers to act immediately. The FFCRA – which mandates paid sick and FMLA leave for designated COVID-19 reasons – does not apply to employers with 500 or more employees. The FFCRA also allows employers of certain health care workers and emergency responders to exclude those employees from…

On September 4, 2020, the California Legislature passed Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson’s bill relating to annual reporting of pay data (Senate Bill 973). If Governor Newsom signs the bill, as expected, SB 973 would require private employers with 100 or more employees to report pay data to the Department of Fair Housing and Employment (DFEH) by March 31, 2021, and by March 31 each year thereafter, for specified job categories by gender, race, and…

On August 8, 2020, a New York federal district judge struck down a significant portion of the DOL’s “joint employer” rule, meaning certain employers may be more likely to be deemed “joint employers” and exposed to liability for employee wage and hour violations under the FLSA. The “joint employer” final rule, which was issued by the DOL in January 2020, imposed a four-factor test for deciding whether employers in “vertical” employment relationships (i.e., when workers…

With special thanks to Amy Greer and Jennifer Klass for contributing to this post. COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic in the US on March 13, 2020. Yet, even now, as we are over six months in to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in the US, employers still continue to face challenges when navigating the sometimes daily changes in health and safety orders, updates from federal agencies, court decisions, and the proliferation of lawsuits. One of…