Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  Workplace incidents—ranging from shootings and assaults to less severe violence—have spiked across a variety of industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attorney Beth McManus discusses the steps employers can take to address and prevent workplace violence in the current environment. Read more.

Video: YouTube, Vimeo, MP4, Instagram.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  The appropriate response to an employee’s controversial off-duty or other conduct, particularly conduct that occurs on social media, has long been an uncertain area for employers. And in these polarized times, that uncertainty is only growing. Attorney Adam Forman speaks to how employers can legally respond to offensive employee conduct that occurs beyond the workplace.

Video: YouTube, Vimeo, MP4, Instagram.

Part 7 of a series featuring our video Rules of the Road: Return to Work in the Time of COVID-19.

What can jazz teach us about COVID-19? What lessons can we learn from the great masters like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington at this very moment?

As it turns out—a lot.

In a unique way, jazz, a truly American, musical art form, perhaps perfectly embodies this moment. Jazz is about democracy – about different people, from different backgrounds, experiences, ethnicities, coming together – inclusively – to make music and make things happen – to swing. Jazz is about ...

As featured on #WorkforceWednesday:  Like many of you, this week, we are honoring Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and reflecting on her employment law legacy. See the video below.

Video: YouTube, Vimeo, MP4, Instagram.

The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”) recently extended the deadline for employers to provide sexual harassment training for their employees, from October 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CHRO announcement is available here.

The CHRO website states that this is a blanket extension, and employers do not need to make a request to obtain the extension. Previously, the CHRO announced a 90-day extension for employers, under limited circumstances, which required employers to make a written request to the CHRO seeking an ...

Outside of the United States, terminating employees can be difficult even in “normal” times.  The concept of “at-will” employment is uniquely American, and generally, employers in non-US jurisdictions only may terminate employment for “cause” or for other statutorily permitted reasons.  Moreover, terminated employees in many countries are entitled to statutory notice, severance and other benefits, which is far more the exception than the rule for US employees.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have increased employee job protections even ...

On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1383 (“SB 1383“), expanding job-protected family leave for employees of companies with five or more employees. Previously, only employees of companies with 20 or more employees were entitled to these protections. According to the Governor’s office, this law, which becomes effective January 1, 2021, will expand job-protected family leave to nearly six million additional Californians.

Existing Law

The California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) currently makes it any an unlawful employment ...

On September 9, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1867 (“AB 1867”), mandating supplemental paid sick leave for employees of companies with 500 or more employees. AB 1867 fills gaps left open by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) (previously discussed here) and the Executive Order signed by Newson on April 22, 2020, which only applied to essential food workers (previously discussed here).

The sick leave portions of the law are effective immediately and covered employers must make the leave available no later than ...

As we approach the last quarter of 2020 and the business community begins to plan ahead for 2021, New York employers should be aware of the changes coming to the New York Paid Family Leave (“NYPFL”) program. On January 1, 2021, the amount of employee contributions, the number of weeks of leave and benefits, and the amount of weekly benefits granted under the program are scheduled to increase. This will be the last of three annual increases in weekly benefits.

The NYPFL program, which took effect in 2018, provides partially-paid, job-protected leave for bonding with a new baby, caring ...

Part 6 of a series featuring our video Rules of the Road: Return to Work in the Time of COVID-19.

Simple in theory. Challenging in practice.

While we all intuitively know that we should stay home when we are feeling unwell, a fall 2019 survey suggests just the opposite—that approximately 90% of workers generally “push through” and come to work anyway. The reality is that employees come to work when they are sick for a myriad of reasons: to stay atop long to-do lists, meet production goals, because they think the business would crumble without them, or that somehow taking a sick day and ...