Over the past eight weeks, serving your legal needs while working remotely to maintain the health and safety of our clients and employees has been our firm’s main focus during COVID-19. As of June 1st, Dickinson Law will begin a phased approach to reopening our offices, with a portion of our attorneys and administrative staff resuming work at our headquarters in downtown Des Moines. This approach is consistent with current governmental recommendations and allows us…

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) was signed into law on March 18, 2020, and took effect on April 1, 2020. In the intervening 14 days, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor issued and revised various guidance documents on its website that interpret the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSL”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLEA”) provisions of the FFCRA.  The most recent substantive…

On March 28, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its expanded Questions and Answers guidance on implementation of the recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), which enacted the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSL”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act (“EFMLA”). Included in the 59 questions answered, the DOL clarified that employees eligible for both FMLA and EFMLA are entitled to only a combined total of 12 workweeks of leave…

On March 25, 2020, we announced that the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL had issued the poster/notice required to be posted under the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.” We noted that covered private sector employers were reminded that they are required to post the notice. In issuing the poster, the DOL stated that an employer could satisfy the posting requirement by emailing or direct mailing the notice to employees, or posting the required…

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many Iowa employers in uncharted waters. Join Jill Jensen-Welch and Melissa Schilling, two shareholder employment attorneys of Dickinson Law, this Friday, March 27th from Noon to 1:30 p.m. for a webinar on Mandated Emergency Leaves. If you have less than 500 employees, you won’t want to miss this free, informational session covering mandates in the law. REGISTER TODAY.  …

On March 25, 2020, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor issued the poster/notice required to be posted by covered private sector employers (i.e., those with fewer than 500 employees) under the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.”  A copy is available here.  The DOL also issued a “Frequently Asked Questions” about the notices, which is available here.  It reminds covered private sector employers that they are required (“must”) post…

On March 19, 2020, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued what it emphasized was an advisory list identifying essential critical infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 response. It specifically disclaimed that “is not, nor should it be considered to be, a federal directive or standard in and of itself.” Rather the list was to assist State, local, tribal, and territorial governments in implementing and executing response activities in communities under their…