ATTENTION NEW YORK EMPLOYERS: New York State Mandates Paid Time Off for COVID-19 Vaccinations
Update: New York State’s COVID-19 vaccination paid leave requirement has been extended through December 31, 2023. Effective immediately, all New York employers, regardless of size, are required to provide employees with up to 4 hours of paid time off to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees may receive a greater amount under a collectively bargained agreement […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: American Rescue Plan Further Extends FFCRA Tax Credits and Other Employment-Related Benefits
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021”, a $1.9 trillion omnibus COVID-19 relief package covering a wide range of economic matters from agriculture food supply chains to school funding to vaccine distribution. Like the stimulus package enacted in December 2020 [Click here to see our 12.29.20 […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: The CDC Issues Interim Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People
On Monday, March 8, 2021, the CDC issued long-awaited guidelines for “fully vaccinated” people, which are available HERE. For the purposes of this guidance, people are considered “fully vaccinated” two or more weeks after they have received the second dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or a single-dose of the Johnson & Johnson/ […]
ATTENTION NJ EMPLOYERS: IT’S TIME TO GET INTO THE WEEDS NEW JERSEY ENACTS NEW EMPLOYMENT PROTECTIONS FOR ADULT CANNABIS USERS
In November 2020, New Jersey voters approved the legalization of adult recreational cannabis use. On February 22, 2021, after months of negotiations between the Governor’s Office and the State Legislature and within minutes of a state deadline, Governor Murphy signed a trio of bills establishing the legal and regulatory framework for recreational cannabis. Among the […]
ATTENTION NEW YORK EMPLOYERS: New York State DOL Releases Updated Guidance on COVID-19 Sick Leave
The New York State Department of Labor recently updated its previously published COVID-related guidance to address how New York State employers should handle certain related COVID-19 sick leave issues. This supplemented guidance, issued on January 20, 2021 and available HERE, boils down to four key takeaways: 1. An employee does not have to be tested […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: IT’S TIME TO REVISIT YOUR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
While states have been busy passing their own independent contractor misclassification laws, on January 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its final rule adopting a streamlined “economic reality” test to determine a worker’s status as an employee or an independent contractor for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new […]
ATTN Employers: The New Year Brings New Wage and Benefit Entitlements for Employees
Notwithstanding the impact of the current pandemic on the economy and, in particular, on businesses in New York and New Jersey, previously scheduled annual wage and benefit increases march on. In the past week, minimum wage rates rose in both New York and New Jersey. In addition, New Jersey employees will see increased maximum benefit […]
ATTN EMPLOYERS: Federal Stimulus Package Extends PPP, Unemployment and FFCRA Tax Credits
ATTENTION: ALL EMPLOYERS Federal Stimulus Package Extends PPP, Unemployment and FFCRA Tax Credits On December 27, 2020, about one week after Congress approved the new legislation, the President signed into law the long-awaited coronavirus relief and spending package. For employers, critical provisions of the new law include extensions of the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”); federal […]
ATTENTION: ALL EMPLOYERS – CAN EMPLOYERS REQUIRE ITS EMPLOYEES TO GET A COVID-19 VACCINE? Yes, says the EEOC (with important exceptions)
ATTENTION: ALL EMPLOYERS CAN EMPLOYERS REQUIRE ITS EMPLOYEES TO GET A COVID-19 VACCINE? Yes, says the EEOC (with important exceptions) On the heels of the first COVID-19 vaccines’ approval by the Federal and Drug Administration, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its previously published COVID-related guidance to address how employers should handle related […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: NEW FAQS ISSUED ON NEW YORK STATE PAID SICK LEAVE
On September 30, 2020, employees began accruing leave under New York State’s new Paid Sick Leave law (“PSL”) which may be taken for covered uses starting on January 1, 2021. As we alerted you in prior communications, the PSL left some ambiguity in how it would be applied. [CLICK for our April 3 and September […]