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By: Jeff Nowak

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Jeff Nowak

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Today, my little FMLA blog turns 10 years old. Ten years ago, at a time when very few people knew what the heck a “blog” was, including me, I took a chance that HR and leave of absence professionals and attorneys might need some help answering the difficult, yet common issues they faced when administering the FMLA. So, on May 26, 2010, I published my very first blog post – a short tale about an employee, Ellen, who got canned when her employer discovered a mountain of deficiencies in her work while she was out on continuous FMLA leave. Upon…
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Are you working from home during the pandemic? Me, too. Are you having trouble keeping your kids off Fortnite and Minecraft, and literally every other screen in your house? Me, too. Do you still love your children? Me, too. For the most part. But with four young children at home, I am ready to return to the office. Soon. [While still loving them, of course.] Summer Camps and Activities Obliterated Like many parents, I face the reality that nearly every summer camp and activity in summer 2020 has been cancelled. Aren’t we lucky? Naturally, employers are wondering whether they are…
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Are you an employer covered by the the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and do you use temp employees? I’ve got something to share with you. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been giving presentations to employers on the FFCRA [who hasn’t!?!] and have counseled them on their FFCRA obligations with respect to the temp employees whose services they use (from the temp agencies that employ them). Using the FMLA classic regulations as my authority, I’ve counseled these employers that they are not on the hook to provide paid sick and paid FMLA leave to these temp employees so…
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As employers have noodled on the new federal emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and paid FMLA leave (FMLA+) law, you’ve done a double-and triple-take on the notice and documentation requirements under this new law. In short, they can be confusing. As a result, plenty of clients have asked me to break down this process just to confirm they are understanding these confusing rules. To make this as clear as possible, I thought it best to break down the notice and documentation processes for an employee requesting leave.  Here we go: What is the Time Frame for Requesting EPSL and FMLA+?…
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Under the Families First Coronavirus Act (FFCRA), employers with fewer than 500 employees are required to provide paid sick leave (EPSL) and paid FMLA leave (FMLA+) for certain reasons related to the Coronavirus pandemic. The law went into effect April 1 and its obligations continue through December 31, 2020. Employers need policies and forms to comply with this new law. We now have these policies and forms ready for you. Why Do You Need a New Policy and Forms to Comply with this New Law? This new law is fraught with compliance issues for employers.  Take, for instance, these risky…
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For the past month, I’ve been in the leave law trenches with several Littler colleagues Alexis Knapp, Jim Paretti, Sebastian Chilco and Michael Lotito. The ‘virtual’ trenches, that is, which serves them well, as they have no clue I’ve spent nearly the entire time without a shower and in my PJs. When we all learned Friday afternoon that the Department of Labor had published yet another set of Q&As interpreting the emergency paid sick and paid FMLA leave law, I won’t sugar coat it – we wanted to cry.  After all, we were fresh off our analysis…
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Let me start with a toast. A toast to the Department of Labor, which was thrust into a spotlight it didn’t seek. After Congress hastily cobbled together a bunch of confusing words on paper providing many American workers with a modest amount of paid sick leave and amending the FMLA to do the same, DOL was tasked with making sense of Congress’ ramblings in a matter of days. Almost immediately, DOL started issuing FAQs (FAQs 1, FAQs 2, and FAQs 3) to help employers and employees better understand the expectations of the Families First Coronavirus Response…
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Late yesterday, the Internal Revenue Service released detailed FAQs outlining the documentation employers can require to substantiate an employee’s need for emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid FMLA (FMLA+).  The IRS also detailed the documents that must be maintained to obtain tax credits for EPSL and FMLA+ payments. Employee Request for Paid Leave The process for requesting EPSL or FMLA+ starts – as a leave request always does – with the employee. iiiiiiIn its guidance, the IRS made clear that the employee must first submit a written request for leave that includes: The employee’s name; The date or…
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Who wants Part III? Come on, you know you’ve been craving this all weekend. More FAQs.  It’s like winning a cake eating contest, and the prize is . . . more cake. Late Saturday night, the Department of Labor issued a third round of Q&As (FAQs #38-59) aimed at helping employers administer emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and paid FMLA leave (FMLA+) as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) (pdf), which as of April 1, 2020 will provide relief to American workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In this latest round of FAQs, DOL gave…
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For the record, I’m not getting much sleep this week, thanks to the Department of Labor. But it’s evident the DOL isn’t getting much sleep either. Late last evening, the DOL issued a second round of Q&As (FAQs #15-37) aimed at helping employers administer emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and paid FMLA leave (FMLA+) as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (pdf), which provides initial relief to American workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The first Q&A issued on Tuesday, March 24 focused largely on employer coverage and pay calculations. Last night, however, the DOL started getting…
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Late yesterday afternoon, the Department of Labor issued an initial question and answer guidance aimed at helping employers administer emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and paid FMLA leave (FMLA+) as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (pdf), which aims to provide initial relief to American workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.  (We covered this new law in a webinar yesterday, the recording of which you can access here.) Among the key questions answered in the DOL’s Q&A, the agency set the effective date of the new law, addressed which (and when) employees should be included…
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After passage last week of the Emergency paid sick leave and paid FMLA law, employers have been clamoring for guidance on the timing of reimbursement by the federal government for any paid leave they provide their employees after the law goes into effect on April 2, 2020. In fact, many employers have had to make difficult furlough and termination decisions worried about whether they would even have the cash flow to cover any paid leave mandates while waiting months, even a year, before the feds reimburse them. Late Friday, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor issued an …
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When:  This Tuesday, March 24, 2020 (11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. central time) Online registration: Click here On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which aims to provide initial relief to American workers of certain covered employers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.  This new law requires covered employers to provide emergency paid leave in the form of a new mandatory paid sick leave benefit, and expanded, paid leave under the FMLA. Targeted for an effective date of April 2, 2020, this new law raises just as many questions as…
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Yesterday, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (pdf), which aims to provide initial relief to American workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.  This new law requires certain employers to provide emergency paid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and emergency paid sick leave. I outline the the key paid FMLA and paid sick leave provisions below: EMERGENCY FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT Effective date: Effective April 2, 2020; the law expires on December 31, 2020 Covered Employer: An employer with fewer than 500 employees.  According to the New York Times,…
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Just three days ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping legislation providing employees FMLA and paid sick leave in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Before the ink of that legislation dried, however, the House late last night made a number of so-called “corrections” to the original legislation that considerably modifies key aspects of the law before sending the bill onto the U.S. Senate, presumably this morning. As much as I have been knee-deep in this legislation over the past few days, my Littler colleagues Mike Lotito, Jim Paretti and Sebastian Chilco haven’t slept as they’ve analyzed these changes…
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In the wee hours of the morning yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation designed to give American workers a safety net in response to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) across the United States. Labeled the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (pdf) and covering a wide range of relief for Americans, the legislation provides nearly all American workers up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave and two weeks of paid sick leave for certain reasons related to the coronavirus. Keep in mind this is simply the House version of the bill.  The U.S. Senate is expected to take…