Yesterday, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued the much-anticipated “Employee Rights” poster or notice concerning the Paid Sick Leave and Expanded Family and Medical Leave components of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).  Click here to access the poster. Along with the poster, the DOL provided some much needed guidance on various aspects of the laws that remained unclear.  Click here to view DOL “Frequently Asked Questions.” Below are a few of the highlights…

On Wednesday evening, March 18th, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”), which, among other things, mandates paid time off for certain qualifying events. There are two primary components in terms of paid time off: (1) the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“E-FMLA”); and (2) the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”). EMERGENCY FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE EXPANSION ACT The E-FMLA amends the Family and Medical Leave…

Statistics Updated April 9, 2020. On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an official name for the disease that is causing the novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan China.  The name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated COVID-19. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. The United States now has the most reported COVID-19 cases in the world.  Today, there are more than 441,000…

Ver la versión en español aquí While some of you may be looking forward to brackets, watch parties, and cheering on your favorite college basketball team, employers should also be thinking about a different type of March Madness – preparing for the H-1B Visa New Registration Process! The USCIS recently announced the implementation of a new electronic registration process for H-1B visas. The registration period will run from March 1-March 20. Therefore, employers seeking to…

Ver la versión en español aquí 2020 Session is upon us and there are some interesting labor and employment bills percolating through the Florida Legislature. Here are few particularly notable bills that caught our eye: Minimum Wage Minimum wage is a frequent flier in the Florida Legislature and 2020 is no exception. One pending bill proposes increasing the state’s minimum wage every year, eventually tracking inflation. This bill does not seem to be well-received and…

Ver la versión en español aquí On January 31, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new Form I-9, designated as the 10/21/2019 version.  The only changes are the additions of Eswatini and Macedonia, North to the list of countries in the drop down fields on the fillable version of the Form and an update to the Form’s instructions. Employers should begin using the new Form I-9 as soon as possible.  Employers may…

Ver la versión en español aquí Employers need to update their new hire paperwork to include the recently revised Form W-4 for 2020. The new Form W-4 reflects the changes made to the tax code in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which changed the standard deduction and created a new dependent credit. As a result of these and other changes, the prior version of the Form W-4 did not accurately estimate income tax…