"On both June 24 and Aug. 2, 2022, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's Division of Labor Standards and Statistics issued yet additional revised and updated guidance as to the HFWA.... By Jan. 1, 2023, all covered employers are required to register with the FAMLI Division. Virtually all employers with employees in Colorado are covered."

"The 9th Circuit stated that the [Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA)] contains an express preemption provision disallowing railroad employees from having any right to sickness benefits under a sickness law of any State. Given that the Act provides sickness benefits, the Act falls within the express terms of the RUIA preemption." [National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Su, No. 21-15816 (9th Cir. Jul. 26, 2022)]

"The [Seventh Circuit] emphasized that 'an employer can violate the FMLA by discouraging an employee from exercising rights under the FMLA without denying an FMLA leave request.' ... [One district court] considered a supervisor's body language (he was 'visibly perturbed') in denying summary judgment on an FMLA claim. Now more than ever, training managers on appropriate responses to FMLA leave requests is essential to prevent interference claims."

"The new remote landscape is making what used to be an easy application of FMLA eligibility into a difficult analysis. This article examines the FMLA regulatory framework for remote employees, a recent Texas federal court decision on the issue and the practical options that employers have moving forward."

"The employer seemed to suggest Stanton's medical conditions weren't 'serious health conditions,' which trigger FMLA rights. The argument was a no-go.... [T]he college seemed to rely on the FMLA form being incomplete and not corrected within the seven-day window allowed by the regulations. But you need to read the entire rule: 'The employer must provide the employee with seven calendar days (unless not practicable under the circumstances despite the employee's diligent good-faith efforts) to cure any such deficiency.' " [Stanton v. Jarvis Christian College, No. 20-40581 (5th Cir., March 11, 2022)]

"Maryland law now requires employers with 15 or more employees to permit the use of existing accrued paid leave for bereavement purposes.... Few other states require employers to provide bereavement leave."

"Under the original amendment in the Massachusetts state budget, employers and employees could supplement the PFMLA benefit payments with 'any accrued sick or vacation pay or other paid leave provided under an employer policy.' ... Vetoing the provision, the governor stated concerns about the cost and implementation of the amendment and asked for a study on the costs.... [T]he Massachusetts legislature voted to override the governor's amendment veto and returned it to the governor for signature.... At this time, the governor has not acted."

"[F}or now, ... the current Paid Medical Act remain[s] in effect; however, effective February 19, 2023, the Earned Sick Time Act will replace the Paid Medical Leave Act ... unless the Court's decision is overturned altogether on appeal. It is also possible that parts of the ruling will become moot if new legislation is passed."

"[E]mployees will now have the option to use their accrued paid leave (i.e., sick, vacation, personal leave) to supplement their PFML benefits while on a PFML-qualifying leave. This is a significant change from when the PFML was first enacted, which required employees to choose either PFML partial wage replacement benefits or paid time off while on leave."

"[On July 29,] the Michigan Court of Claims issued a stay of its July 19, 2022, decision ... that had reinstated ballot initiatives that would have drastically changed the state's paid medical leave and minimum wage laws. The stay is in place until February 19, 2023. This means that the adopted and amended versions of these laws will remain in place for now."

"A provision in the enacted state budget for fiscal year 2023 amends the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) to provide employers and employees more flexibility to use other accrued benefits to supplement paid benefits received from the state."

"Employers should remain aware that this paid COVID vaccination leave cannot be charged against any other leave to which the employee is entitled, including paid sick leave or leave provided under a collective bargaining agreement."

"Although the State of Michigan immediately filed an appeal of the court's order and a motion to stay its directive to reinstate the ballot initiatives as originally enacted, the current status of Michigan's minimum wage and paid sick leave laws remains in flux. Should the court's order ultimately be upheld, here is how the laws would change."

"[T]he Seventh Circuit has ruled that an individual may still have a cognizable civil rights lawsuit even if his employer merely discouraged him, rather than formally denied him, from taking leave under the [FMLA].... [T]he court clarified that workers need only show that their employers interfered with their FMLA leave requests to state a viable claim for violating the statute." [Ziccarelli v. Dart, No. 19-3435 (7th Cir. Jun. 1, 2022)]

"The Connecticut [DOL] released a sample Notice ... Employers must provide the notice to all existing employees on an annual basis -- starting July 1 -- and to all new hires at the time of hire.... [T]he CT PFMLA appears to require individual distribution of the notice."

"Colorado employers must continue to provide paid COVID leave to employees who have public health emergency related leave available. Recently, the federal government extended the public health emergency declaration related to COVID-19 for an additional 90 days."

"Unless the Michigan Court of Appeals or Supreme Court issues a stay pending an appeal, ... [all] Michigan employees are now eligible for paid sick leave, including previously exempted part-time, executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales employees. Employers must provide 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked (instead of the prior 1:35 ratio). Employers with less than 10 workers may cap paid time off at 40 hours annually; all others must provide employees up to 72 hours of paid time off annually."

"Employers may want to examine their current leave policies for Michigan employees and assess any necessary modifications needed to comply with the expanded paid sick leave (and other) provisions of the original legislation. Here is a recap of the most notable provisions in the original law[.]"

"On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, the Michigan Court of Claims determined that the Michigan Legislature violated the Michigan Constitution when it adopted and then amended two ballot petition initiatives in 2018.... The laws as amended by the Legislature were quite different from the original ballot initiatives in a number of ways."

"Bloomington became the fourth Minnesota city to pass a citywide Earned Sick and Safe Leave ordinance, requiring all private employers with one or more employees to provide eligible employees with safe and sick leave. The ordinance becomes effective on July 1, 2023."

"The Opinion concludes that the statutory language effectively limits a part-time employee's right to accrue vacation and sick leave and ultimately requires that the employee meet the minimum 20-hours-worked requirement every week of a given month in order to accrue vacation and sick leave during said month."

"San Francisco has significantly expanded its Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance to guarantee flexible or predictable work arrangements for employees with qualifying caregiver responsibilities when the employee provides notice of their preferred arrangement, unless the employer can demonstrate an undue hardship to the employer."

"If the health care provider certifies a serious medical condition, we arguably must approve the leave. It does not matter whether the procedure is elective or not.... If it's clear that the treatment involved will occur on Day X, then a court likely would find that the travel necessary to get to the destination by Day X is so intertwined with the need for leave that it should be considered part of the protected leave as well."

"State and local leave laws create a host of compliance issues for employers. Employers may want to review their current policies taking into account their industry and the state, or sometimes even the specific ZIP code in which they operate. They may also want to consider the evolving definitions of what is a qualified event, particularly in light of the COVID-19 public health crisis."

"[E]mployers can count the amount of unused sick leave that is carried over to a subsequent year toward the employee's entitlement to accrue sick leave hours in the subsequent year.... INFO #6B also clarifies the amount of Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL) that employees are entitled to in Colorado. [A]ny accrued but unused sick leave in an employee's sick leave bank when a PHEL request is made may be counted toward the 80-hour entitlement as a 'credit.' "