Workforce Bulletin

As we previously reported, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the global workplace and international employer-employee relations in profound ways. As COVID-19 continues to spread, countries have enacted nationwide orders, requiring billions of people to stay at home. Recently, in an effort to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19, several countries have extended national stay-home orders. The ordered restrictions vary according to jurisdiction specific reasons.

Belgium

On April 15, 2020, Belgium’s National Security Council (“NSC”), which includes Prime ...

On April 14, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a new amendment (“New Amendment”) to the New Jersey Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, commonly referred to as the New Jersey WARN Act (“NJ WARN Act”), which was modified in January of this year, to among other things, require payment of severance to eligible employees who suffer a NJ WARN Act covered termination of employment and to require 90 days’ notice of such terminations (the “January Amendment,” which we discussed previously here).

The New Amendment, which was driven by ...

On April 14, 2020, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation (S2374) (the “Law”), amending the New Jersey Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) leave.  Under the Law, which repeals and replaces a March 25, 2020 amendment to the NJFLA about which we wrote here,  eligible employees will be entitled to job protected leave to care for a family member as a result of an epidemic of a communicable disease, or efforts to prevent spread of a communicable disease, which:

(a)   requires in-home care or treatment of a child due to the closure of the school or place of care of the child of the employee, by ...

On April 14, 2020, exactly two weeks after the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or “Act”), went into effect and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a temporary rule (“Rule”) interpreting the paid sick leave and emergency family and medical leave provisions of the Act, the Attorney General for the State of New York, Letitia James (“AG”), filed a legal challenge to that Rule. [1] In the lawsuit against the DOL, the AG alleges that various provisions of the Rule violate both the statutory language and the intent of the FFCRA.

As we previously ...

On April 13, 2020, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued an industry-specific alert for the package delivery industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The alert provides guidance tailored to the package delivery industry, but it is equally useful for any company using its own employees to deliver goods to customers or clients.

OSHA recommends the following:

• Encourage workers to stay home if they are sick.
• Establish flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts) where feasible.
• Practice sensible social ...

On April 13, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (‘OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor issued a guidance memorandum (“Memorandum”) to its Area Offices and compliance safety and health officers for handling COVID-19 referrals, complaints, and severe illness reports.

The Memorandum articulates the procedures OSHA will use to prioritize enforcement responses, and details measures for protecting OSHA employees from the workplace hazard of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), i.e., the virus causing the current ...

On April 7, 2019, Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 7V (“Order 7V”), requiring that “[e]very workplace in the State of Connecticut shall take additional protective measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 between and among employees, customers, and other persons such as delivery drivers, maintenance people or others who may enter the workplace.” Order 7V, available here, directed the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the Department of Health (DPH) to issue “legally binding statewide rules” prescribing additional ...

On April 10, 2020, the District of Columbia enacted the COVID-19 Response Supplemental Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-286) (the “Emergency Act”).  Among other things, Section 103 of the Emergency Act amends the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 (“ASSLA”) to require employers with between 50-499 employees to provide paid declared emergency leave (“DOE Paid Leave”) for any reason allowed by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). The Emergency Act is effective immediately and will remain in effect through July 9, 2020 ...

As we previously reported, Texas cities have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by issuing “Stay at Home” Orders, essentially halting all non-essential business operations that cannot be conducted remotely.  As a result, many workers have been furloughed, laid off, or terminated, and are in the process of seeking monetary relief through unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefits.  As of today, the Texas Workforce Commission (“TWC”) has helped more than 1.2 million Texans apply for unemployment benefits since March 14, 2020, and paid out more than $400 million in ...

As we previously reported in our “Summary of OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19,” the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has provided detailed directions for employers with respect to ensuring an OSHA-compliant workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.  On April 10, 2020, the DOL issued a memorandum providing interim guidance on enforcement of OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements (29 CFR Part 1904) as they relate to recording cases of COVID-19. The memorandum, which is “intended to be time-limited to the current public health crisis,” became effective ...