The U.S. Department of Labor agreed, and decided to make leave times and payment easier to calculate for employers subject to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) with a handy chart. Wait, Do I Have To Provide FFCRA Leave? Don’t know if you, employer, have to comply with FFCRA? Let’s answer these simple questions: Are you a private employer with less than 500 employees? Yes, you count part-time as well as full-time employees. Are…

Since June, federal law protects employees from discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This means that an employer, supervisor, or co-worker may not discriminate or harass an employee because he is gay or is gender non-conforming. If an employee appears to be man, but does not identify as one, that’s his business, and the law prohibits harassment on this basis. One workplace considered that the employee was being “overly sensitive” and…

Are you prepared? Do you have procedures in place to handle the mounting requests for accommodations? While my management side employment practice has always included helping employers navigate their legal obligations to accommodate employees with disabilities under various federal, state, and/or local laws, this one aspect has skyrocketed in recent months. And it’s no wonder. In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) reported that almost 41% of US adults are struggling with…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) has again updated their testing guidelines. The new language, which you can review here, “clarifies” the recommendations made in August, but to me, it seems to be a rollback.It emphasizes that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested whether or not they show symptoms. The updated guidance notes that even if people do not have symptoms, they should still need…

Oops, they did it again. Responding to an August 3 Order invalidating certain regulations from a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, on September 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a temporary rule reaffirming and revising some of its regulations interpreting the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). If you need a refresher on the obligations FFCRA imposes upon employers and employees’ rights under…

Can an employee sue his church employer after his supervisor, a priest, created a hostile work environment claim because of the employee’s sexual orientation once the priest learned of the employee’s plans to marry his long-term partner? Yes, yes it can, according to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Demkovich v. St. Andrew The Apostle Parish, No. 19-2142 (7th Cir. 2020), decided on August 31, 2020. The facts are simple.…