"[E]ffective August 19, 2021 ... Employees will be able to use leave when they lose work hours when their place of employment closes for public health reasons ... If employers maintain an employee handbook, it will need to include a copy of the company's ESST policy ... Employers must either display or provide the city-created poster to employees or provide a company-created notice that advises employees of their rights under the ordinance."

"Two bills, currently pending in the Senate, seek to expand the scope of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). The second bill also looks to expand sick pay."

"[T]he term 'family member' ... has been expanded to include 'any individual who regularly resides in the employee's home or with whom the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care.' The term 'family member' does not include a person who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee care for the individual."

"626B was passed as a new law, but it is nearly identical to Pittsburgh's original Temporary COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (626A) that was in effect from December 8, 2020 through June 17, 2021. Though new 626B's text largely mirrors that of 626A, there are some important differences.... [It] appears 626B requires an entirely new bank of leave because it is a separate ordinance rather than an amendment to or extension of the original ordinance."

"The Chicago City Council amended its Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO) to clarify and expand the bases to take paid leave ... [T]he paid sick leave amendments took effect on Aug. 1."

"[E]ffective immediately and through January 17, 2022, eligible employees may take covered leave for absences connected to: [1] an emergency evacuation order of level 2 (SET) or level 3 (GO) issued by a public official with the authority to do so, if the affected area subject to the order includes either the location of the employer's place of business or the employee's home address; and [2] a determination by a public official with the authority to do so that the air quality index or heat index is at a level where continued exposure to such levels would jeopardize the employee's health."

"Although the guidance acknowledges that long COVID is not always a disability, it indicates that an individualized assessment is necessary to determine whether a person's condition or symptoms substantially limit a major life activity. The guidance also provides examples of when long COVID could meet that definition under applicable law."

"The IRS today updated frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the paid sick and family leave tax credits under [ARPA]. The updates clarify that eligible employers can claim the credits for providing leave to employees to accompany a family or household member or certain other individuals to obtain immunization relating to COVID-19 or to care for a family or household member or certain other individuals recovering from the immunization.

"The paid sick and family leave credits reimburse eligible employers for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave for reasons related to COVID-19. The revised FAQs make clear this includes leave taken by employees to care for certain individuals to obtain immunization relating to COVID-19 or to recover from immunization relating to COVID-19. This new reason for paid sick or family leave also applies for the comparable credits for self-employed individuals."

BenefitsLink note: the following Revised sections of the FAQs have been updated as of July 29, 2021:

• General Information
• What is an Eligible Employer?
• Determining the Amount of the Tax Credit for Qualified Sick Leave Wages
• Determining the Amount of the Tax Credit for Qualified Family Leave Wages
• Determining the Amount of Allocable Collectively Bargained Contributions
• Specific Provisions Related to Self-Employed Individuals

"Using a term like 'flare-up,' which is not tied to any particular medical condition, fails to put an employer on notice of the need for FMLA leave. In this case, the denial of FMLA clearly is defensible.... If Ed had reported that he was having flare ups 'due to his depression,' or that he 'needed to take FMLA' because of his medical condition, this might very well be a different kind of case. These nuances can make or break your FMLA case." [Render v. FCA, No. 19-12984 (E.D. Mich. Jul. 19, 2021)]

"Regular attendance at the worksite can be an essential job function, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently reminded employers, upholding the termination of an employee who had violated the employer's attendance policy. As a result, the former employee can no longer pursue her Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) claims." [Evans v. Cooperative Response Center, Inc., No. 19-2483 (8th Cir. May 4, 2021)]

"FMLA's eligibility requirement of twelve months in the position puts self-identified multiracial and Black workers at a particularly high risk for exclusion ... The authors also found that because smaller employers are excluded from FMLA, Latinx workers, who were less likely to be employed in larger companies, faced greater exclusion. The US is one of just 11 countries globally lacking permanent paid sick leave and is the sole country to only guarantee unpaid leave."

"[The amendment] solidifies the right to use Paid Secure Leave to comply with a quarantine, isolation or stay-at-home order issued by a public official, the local health department or a personal healthcare provider. The amendment also adds new qualifying reasons for Paid Secure Leave unrelated to COVID-19."

"Effective May 28, 2021, the law requires employers to provide all employees up to 40 hours (pro-rated for part-time employees) of paid leave. Employers are required to provide leave until the earlier of September 30, 2021, or when Massachusetts announces that the $75 million fund to reimburse employers is expected to be depleted."

"[T]he Ordinance expands the reasons that an employee may use paid sick leave to care for themselves or a family member.... Employers must continue to post a notice in a conspicuous place ... [E]mployers must issue the same notice directly to employees annually with a paycheck issued within 30 days of July 1."

"The voluntary program, called the Granite State Paid Family Leave Plan, provides New Hampshire workers with 60 percent wage replacement for up to six weeks of work per year if they take time off for personal health or family reasons."

"The actual budgetary cost of the provisions that provided this credit remains uncertain ... Data on self-employed individual claims of this credit are not yet available, and ... the 'IRS continues to process a paper return backlog, which makes the data … incomplete, particularly for small employers.' In addition, taxpayers may still file additional claims and update the amounts on prior claims."

"The principal issue before the court was whether the employee was entitled to FMLA leave when the employee had failed to follow his employer's usual and customary notice requirements for requesting FMLA leave. The court granted summary judgment in the employer's favor, reinforcing the point that an employee's noncompliance with an employer's notice requirements ordinarily precludes the employee's entitlement to the FMLA's protections." [Munger v. Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc., No. 18-970 (D. Ore. Jun. 17, 2021)]

"In what should have been a measured, thoughtful policy debate about paid family leave for federal employees, a recent congressional hearing instead devolved into scurrilous attacks on the integrity and value of frontline federal workers around the country."

"While employers were initially advised to prescribe their own request forms, all the information that must be collected is now addressed in the sample form ... The [Executive Office for Administration and Finance (EOAF)] has published the required notice in poster-form and in a form to be sent via electronic communication. Additionally, the EOAF has published instructions for employers to follow in order to seek reimbursement for payments made to employees for use of COVID-19 Sick Leave."

13 pages. "Paid Family Leave (PFL) legislation has grown in popularity, and states continue to propose, fund, and launch their own programs.... Every jurisdiction has adopted plans that vary in terms of length of leave, amount of payment, and funding mechanism. Additionally, some states have chosen to combine their state-mandated short-term disability with a PFL program to create a Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program."

"[T]he standard requires that employers give unvaccinated employees reasonable time and paid leave to be vaccinated and to recover from vaccine side effects, although it does not define what 'reasonable' time is. Employers must also provide medical removal protection benefits, which include specified amounts of paid leave for certain employees removed from work due to COVID-19 exposure or contraction."

"Under the [mayor's] order, employees who work within the City of Los Angeles and have been employed by their employer for 60 days are entitled to paid time off to get vaccinated for COVID-19, including traveling to and from the appointment, as well as recovering from the side effects of vaccination[.]"

"[R]emote work programs of the past likely neglected to address the fundamental differences between mandatory telework (at the employer's direction) and voluntary telework (at the employee's request).... [It's] also critical that you require employees to notify you whenever they will be working from a different jurisdiction, as you will need to track whether they are entitled to a statutory leave of absence under the laws of the state/city in which they are performing work."

"In general, the employee's donated time does not need to be treated as wages for income or payroll tax purposes if ... [1] the payment is made to a section 170(c) organization for the relief of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in the affected geographic areas; and [2] the payment is paid to the section 170(c) organization after Dec. 31, 2020 and before Jan. 1, 2022."

"This extension arrives somewhat late in the game -- possibly too late for employers that have not already established a leave-based donation program. But for those with such a program, this extension will be a welcome affirmation that the favorable tax treatment of leave-based donations can continue, at least for cash payments made during 2021."