On May 19, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) altered its policy regarding an employer’s obligation to record cases of COVID-19 in the workplace. Previously, OSHA required only employers in the healthcare/emergency responder/correctional institution fields to record positive cases of the Coronavirus and to determine if the case was work related.
The Small Business Administration just released its Instructions and Application for Loan Forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program. The application and instructions provide some overdue guidance for employer borrowers hoping to have all or a portion of their PPP loans forgiven.
Once again, the EEOC updated its question and answer series on how federal antidiscrimination laws impact workplace issues arising during the COVID-19 pandemic; this time addressing whether employers can test workers for coronavirus infection before they enter (or re-enter) the workplace.
This message is not our typical advice about emerging labor and employment law issues. Instead I write to remind you of the challenges that our courts are facing and for those interested in looking at the legal issues, some of which impact our non-work lives. Below I am including a link to a program aired this week by the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, where I have the honor to chair the Board of Trustees.
The Department of Labor is catching up to the flurry of emergency legislation that has come out of Washington and has issued additional guidance on expanded family medical leave requirements created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFRCA”). In an effort to clarify some of the confusion surrounding this emergency legislation, we have provided answers to some of the common questions.
Effective February 6, 2020, New York has reduced the amount of time striking workers must wait before they are eligible to receive unemployment benefits. While New York is one of only a handful of states to allow strikers to receive unemployment benefits, the seven-week waiting period that has applied until now has served as a deterrent to strikes.
As was widely reported, today the President will sign the CARES Act. This unprecedented economic relief act provides help for individuals and businesses on a number of fronts, including emergency lending for businesses, which is the focus of this update.
As part of the $2 trillion pandemic stimulus Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) expected to be passed and signed in to law today, there are loan opportunities for “mid-sized” businesses and not for profit organizations with between 500 and 10,000 employees.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act creates paid sick leave and paid family medical leave for private sector employers of less than 500 employees for qualifying events. We are updating our previous guidance about these laws to bring you the most current information as the federal agencies involved in implementation issue their own guidance.