On August 27, 2020, New Hampshire updated both the Universal Guidelines for All New Hampshire Employers and Employees and the New Hampshire COVID-19 General Travel and Quarantine Guidance, & Employer Screening and Exclusion Criteria.  These documents apply to “all businesses, organizations, and individual business operators for the operation of their business” and must be complied with together with any applicable industry-specific guidelines. The Universal Guidelines serve as “the basic  minimum standard that businesses must…

Just in time for the start of the school year, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) added to its long list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for workers and employers about qualifying for paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) related to the reopening of schools. This guidance explains eligibility for paid leave relative to the varied formats and schedules schools have announced as they plan to reopen,…

Channeling my inner Steve Martin for those old enough to remember that 1979 classic, The Jerk (trust me, parts of it didn’t age well), or when phone books were actually a thing, I am happy to announce that the US Department of Labor has issued new certification and designation forms to be used when employees request or need leaves of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). The new forms are touted as…

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on August 3, 2020 that it will start issuing charge closure documents again on a routine basis.  As I wrote in an earlier blog post, the EEOC delayed the issuance of “Notice of Right to Sue” letters at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to workers who had filed discrimination charges. That suspension is now being lifted.  “Recognizing that further delays in issuing charge closure documents could…

On Saturday, August 8, 2020, President Trump took executive actions, sidestepping Congress, to extend certain federal pandemic economic relief. The executive actions were issued after Congressional negotiations over additional pandemic economic relief appeared to have collapsed. One of these executive actions would address additional unemployment relief by establishing a new lost wages assistance program that would provide a $400 weekly payment to eligible claimants beginning with weeks of unemployment ending August 1, 2020. Individuals would…

Companies reopening their offices and facilities will be collecting sensitive personal and health information about their employees (as well as about customers, vendors, and other visitors) to track COVID-19 symptoms. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) typically places strict limits on the collection, use, and disclosure of health information about employees, the ongoing pandemic has prompted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to permit the widespread gathering of…