As California employers continue to grapple with recent legislation effective January 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom is releasing his plans for even more employment legislation. Along with the Governor’s proposed budget, the Governor has announced various “trailer bills.”  Trailer bills are measures that accompany the annual state budget that theoretically are necessary to implement the budget. Yet they can also be an easy way for the Governor to get difficult legislation passed, as the trailer…

“What did I do wrong?” and “Am I doing this correctly?” are frequent questions from clients regarding FMLA administration.  This is the 29th blog in a series highlighting some mistakes employers can inadvertently make regarding FMLA administration. Failing to consider an employee’s potential FMLA rights in the context of the Coronavirus. This blog post keys off of the Jackson Lewis article published on January 28, 2020, “Coronavirus Concerns in the Workplace,” which can be found…

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China continues to raise not only health concerns, but issues for employers and employees. Information about the virus continues to evolve. After the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency due to the 2019-nCoV, the Trump Administration announced that, as of 5:00 p.m. EST on February 2, 2020, all non-U.S. citizens who had visited China (not including Hong Kong and Macau) within…

Clark v. Champion National Security, Incorporated (No. 18-11613, January 14, 2020) is the Fifth Circuit’s latest statement on whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) requires an employer to excuse terminable misconduct—here, sleeping on the job—based on an employee’s after-the-fact, disability-related explanation. It does not. Clark, an insulin-dependent Type II diabetic, was a personnel manager for a security company. Clark was provided two reasonable accommodations: an office refrigerator to store insulin and flexible scheduling…

News of an outbreak of a new coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China raises issues for employers and employees about the appropriate workplace responses. Many employers are seeking guidance on how best to respond to workplace concerns, especially those with employees engaged in international travel, as well as employers in the healthcare, airline, and border protection industries. Read more here.…

New Jersey has amended its Temporary Disability Benefits Law (TDB) to provide job-protected leave during “a period of disability” resulting from the donation of any organ or bone marrow. The new law will take effect on May 20, 2020. Although the Legislature acknowledged that the TDB does not expressly guarantee job security, it decided to amend the law to provide employees job security only when the disability is due to the donation of any organ…

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has issued final regulations on the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law (ESLL), ending more than a year’s anticipation following the close of the proposed regulations’ comment period in 2018. Though short on substantive changes, an extensive comment-and-response section provides more guidance to the NJDOL’s interpretation and enforcement of the ESLL. Significantly, it discusses the ESLL’s interplay with collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), existing paid time off…