Business Waits for No One, Certainly Not Negative Tests: New CDC Guideline Obviate the Need for Retesting

Based on previous guidelines and advice, many business owners are telling employees who have tested positive for COVID-19, to not return to work until they test negative. Sometimes, this means waiting weeks and even months. There are numerous reasons contributing to the problem. First, some patients test positive for weeks after full recovery and no longer being contagious. Second, scheduling a test is getting harder and results are taking longer and longer. Third, the tests being used are still unreliable, with the "quick" ones having the highest rates of false positives and false negatives. In the meantime, businesses are seeing an uptick in business, but cannot fulfill orders or client needs because they have no workers. Some have even had to shut down. It is very surprising, then, that the CDC's new guideline saying a negative test is not necessary has flown under the radar.

Continue reading Business Waits for No One, Certainly Not Negative Tests: New CDC Guideline Obviate the Need for Retesting ›

Shutdowns and Child Care Centers

In the last 24 hours, we have seen three shutdown orders, only two of which affect Georgia child care centers. Under Mayor Bottom’s order, Atlanta residents are confined to their homes, but the order specifically exempts child care centers as essential businesses.  The mayor of Savannah’s order exempts child care centers providing services to employees of other exempt businesses and has several restrictions.  

Continue reading Shutdowns and Child Care Centers ›

Update: How the Passed Families First Coronavirus Response Impacts Employers

Late on March 18, 2020, the Senate passed House Bill 6201, named the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" and the White House promptly signed it that evening.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, with the White House's authority, had negotiated and drafted the legislation, which had cleared the House late last week.  

Continue reading Update: How the Passed Families First Coronavirus Response Impacts Employers ›

How the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Could Impact Employers

On March 13, 2020, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, acting on behalf of the White House, reached a deal for a coronavirus economic relief deal, and the House passed it that evening. H.R. 6201, named the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" could affect employers with less than 500 employees in a number of ways, including requiring paid FMLA and sick leave. (Employers with 500 or more employees will not be affected.)

Continue reading How the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Could Impact Employers ›

Total Eclipse of … Liability?

We don’t mean to darken anyone’s day—we want our clients and their employees to join in on the 2017 eclipse festivities as much as everyone else—but we need to alert you as to some issues and suggest some precautions for employers to maximize fun and minimize liability during the eclipse. As lawyers, we just cannot avoid the gravitational pull of the Nervous Nellie Star System.

Continue reading Total Eclipse of … Liability? ›

FMLA Master Class: Georgia - Advanced Skills for Employee Leave Management

On-Site Seminar:
Atlanta | Thursday, January 14, 2016

Choose your conference option! Attend the full conference, or just attend the morning or afternoon session.

Master FMLA administration in just one day with this all-new program created just for Georgia employers and HR management...

Continue reading FMLA Master Class: Georgia - Advanced Skills for Employee Leave Management ›

Sick Leave State Law Changes for 2015

California

On January 1, 2015, California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (California's paid sick leave act) went into effect. Under the law, employers with employees who work in California will need to provide up to 24 hours or three days of paid sick time to current and new employees beginning on July 1, 2015. On June 22, the California Assembly passed amendments to the sick leave law. The amendments must also pass the State Senate by a two-thirds vote and then be signed by the governor. They are expected to pass as they merely clarify the original law.

Continue reading Sick Leave State Law Changes for 2015 ›

Do You Need to Update Your FMLA Forms?

Many alerts and articles have been published about updating Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) forms due to the Department of Labor's (DOL) issuance of new forms in late May. If your FMLA leave forms already contain the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) endorsed Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) language, however, you probably don’t need to engage in this exercise.

As most employers know, while the DOL’s FMLA forms are not mandatory, they are practical as they follow the regulations concerning what employers may ask with respect to FMLA leave, and they may be used as a defense with respect to compliance. The new forms are not that much different than the old ones, except that they just finally contain references to the GINA. The added language, however, is not ideal to preserve an employer’s safe harbor rights under GINA. 

Continue reading Do You Need to Update Your FMLA Forms? ›

Final Paycheck—“Whaaaaaat?” Moment

A client with a few remote employees in states other than where it is headquartered recently received a letter from a terminated Oregon remote employee’s lawyer making claims for civil penalties arising out of the company’s failure to pay her commissions the day after she was fired. “Whaaaaaat?” the client asked. The client had paid the employee her final regular wages and commissions pursuant to its regular payroll schedule, which was less than 30 days from the day of termination.

Continue reading Final Paycheck—“Whaaaaaat?” Moment ›

“Accidental” Personal Charges on Company Credit Card

A client recently called because a relatively high-level executive had charged more than $40,000 of personal purchases on the company’s credit card. When confronted about the situation, he apologized and said it was a mistake and agreed to move the charges to his personal cards. Not altogether surprising, it turned out he was having financial issues. He did not have enough credit in his cards to make the transfer, could not open new credit cards, and did not have enough funds to pay the debt. He agreed to repay the company through a payment plan, but after a few checks the payments stopped. What should the company do?

Continue reading “Accidental” Personal Charges on Company Credit Card ›