In its September 13, 2024 decision in Bodge et al. v. Commonwealth et al., SJC-13567 (2024), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled that an employer’s policy of denying the accrual of certain benefits to...more
9/19/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Medical Leave ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On September 29, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law an extension to the Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (“EPSL”) program. As we wrote about in detail..., the EPSL program requires...more
On August 25, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Osborne-Trussell v. Children’s Hospital Corporation that a nurse whose employment was terminated prior to her start date after disclosing to her employer...more
On May 28, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law legislation requiring all Massachusetts employers to provide emergency paid sick leave to employees who are unable to work for certain reasons relating to...more
6/4/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Full-Time Employees ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws
On March 12, 2021, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation granting public and private employees paid time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The new law immediately requires all New York State...more
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law, which provides New York-based employees with up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year. Covered employees began...more
Responding to a recent New York federal court decision invalidating certain of its regulations interpreting the paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)...more
9/22/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Furloughs ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Layoffs ,
New Guidance ,
Paid Leave ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Leave ,
Work Availability Requirement
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. employers have struggled with how to address the unanticipated ramifications of the pandemic while at the same time meeting their obligations under federal labor law. ...more
8/20/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hazard Pay ,
Layoffs ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Retaliation ,
Sick Leave ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wrongful Termination
In March 2020, Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provided emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid family medical leave (EPFML) to millions of workers needing time off for...more
8/6/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EPSLA ,
Essential Workers ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation
Since Congress’s quick passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in late March, the Department of Labor has continued to issue guidance interpreting this new law. While the Department published its...more
On Wednesday, April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued new formal regulations interpreting the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Those regulations largely formalized the informal guidance the DOL has...more
As concerns about the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continue to mount in the United States (and world-wide), resulting in school and business closures and other disruptions across the country, employers are...more
4/2/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Sick Employees ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
State of Emergency ,
Traveling Employee ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Earlier this week, as millions of Americans were being urged to self-quarantine to curb the spread of COVID-19, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new paid sick leave bill into law. The law is designed, among other...more
On the evening of Wednesday, March 18, 2020 the President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides various forms of emergency relief to directly address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic....more
The new Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) came into effect on October 1, 2019, requiring employers to begin collecting payroll deductions and matching contributions to be submitted to the state...more
The past few days saw two major updates to the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) of which employers should be aware: a three-month extension of various deadlines for employer compliance and the issuance...more
On May 1, 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave announced that it is extending two deadlines for compliance with the new Paid Family and Medical Leave Act....more
Three weeks ago, we reported on the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave’s new guide for employers on how to comply with the new Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA). That alert can be found here. The...more
Last week, Governor Charlie Baker signed a landmark bill establishing a paid family and medical leave program for Massachusetts workers and gradually increasing the state minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. Described as a “grand...more
On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, the Office of the Attorney General issued additional guidance clarifying the “safe harbor” to the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time (“EST”) law it announced on May 18, 2015. Specifically, the new...more