January 17 Tip of the Week
State, Local, Federal – Are You in Compliance?
As we begin a new year, it is always a good idea to review employment policies and practices to ensure that your business is in compliance with the myriad of labor and employment laws that are in place. In addition to federal and state employment laws, some local governments also impose certain requirements on employers. Two prime examples of where local governments impose obligations on employers are minimum wage rules and the requirement that employers provide paid sick leave to their employees.
The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law that applies to employers with 50 or more employees and requires employers to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave due to their own serious illness or to care for a family member with a serious illness. It also provides unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child. Most employers are familiar with this law and understand their obligations under the FMLA. These obligations include the continuation of health insurance benefits and the requirement that an employer return an employee who exercises their right to FMLA leave to the position they held at the time of their leave or to a substantially equivalent position (i.e., one with the same pay and benefits).
Some states and local governments go one step farther than the federal FMLA law and require employers to provide some form of paid sick and family leave to their employees. In general, those laws mimic the FMLA, with employees having to meet certain requirements to be eligible for such leave and employers having to hold the employee’s position open for the duration of the leave. These laws generally require a limited amount of paid leave to employees, with the length of the leave varying by state and by the reason for the leave. For example, California requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, which is earned over time and may be capped at 48 hours per year; California employees are entitled to up to eight weeks of paid family leave in any one-year period. San Francisco requires employers to provide both paid sick leave and paid parental leave to employees as part of a citywide ordinance.
Some states provide these benefits as part of their unemployment insurance programs and characterize them as disability insurance. Other states have separate paid sick and family leave requirements that are funded through contributions by employers and employees, while other states fund their family and sick leave benefits through employee contributions only.
If the varying paid family and sick leave laws were not enough, add to that the federal, state and local COVID leave laws that were passed at the beginning of the pandemic and an employer has an even more difficult time in ensuring that it is providing all the leave available to employees under the law. COVID leave is more difficult to enforce, as those laws vary by state, had a federal component to them, and had expiration dates. In addition, COVID leave laws allowed employees to take time off to address issues that arose as part of the pandemic – an employee who was exposed to the virus and had to quarantine, an employee who had child care issues due to school or day care providers being closed, and an employee who was required to care for a family member who had COVID.
This patchwork of laws and ordinances requires employers to educate themselves on the rules that apply to their employees. Employers with multiple locations have a more difficult job to ensure that they meet all of the requirements applicable to their employees. MyHRCounsel can assist you in learning about your obligations under the law and ensuring that your policies are in compliance with all the requirements that apply to you and your employees. Contact us today!