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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 197 (HB 197) on March 27, 2020, which tolls numerous workers’ compensation deadlines set to expire between March 9, 2020 and July 30, 2020.

Therefore, any relevant statute of limitations related to workers’ compensation claims will not expire during the time period between March 9, 2020 and July 30, 2020.  This change will impact several key events in the workers’ compensation claim process.Continue Reading What parties need to know about tolled statutes of limitations for Ohio workers’ compensation claims

As COVID-19 cases continue to mount nationwide, so have lawsuits relating to fallout from the virus. On April 6, 2020, in one of the first COVID-19-related lawsuits of its kind, the estate of an Illinois Walmart Supercenter employee sued Walmart and the premises owner for wrongful death in Toney Evans v. Walmart, Inc., et al.
Continue Reading Workplace exposure to COVID-19: Can employers be liable?

On April 1, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a temporary rule interpreting the paid leave provisions under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). We will follow with more detailed thoughts on the rule, but the highlights include:

  • Key definitions, including “child care provider” (defined as including unpaid family caretakers in addition to paid child care settings) and “telework”
  • Discussion of interplay between “stay at home” orders and “isolation or quarantine” orders, and the availability of paid leave in connection with those orders
  • Clarification on employees’ options and employers’ ability to require use of paid time off concurrently with expanded FMLA leave for school closures
  • Key information for employers on determining exemptions for employees who are health care providers or emergency responders, and who therefore can be exempted from FFCRA coverage
  • Instructions on counting employees for purposes of FFCRA coverage
  • Elaboration on the exemption for employers with fewer than 50 employees
  • Documentation retention requirements and content for claiming the tax credits associated with the FFCRA
  • Clarification that employers not covered by the traditional FMLA are not subject to a private right of action from an employee under the expanded FMLA

Continue Reading Department of Labor issues “temporary rule” interpreting paid leave under FFCRA

As the April 1, 2020 effective date for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act quickly approaches, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues to release guidance via a Q&A page through which the DOL illustrates how it will enforce the Act.

Some of this guidance has been discussed in earlier posts which you can find here and here. In addition, the DOL has provided the following new information.
Continue Reading Department of Labor’s Q&A page provides new information about enforcement of Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Over the weekend, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its Q&A page for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ahead of the act’s April 1, 2020 effective date. This guidance provides employers with additional insight about how the DOL will enforce the FFCRA’s expanded Families and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and paid sick leave requirements. In this second piece of our three-part series, here is our look at the key points the new guidance provides.
Continue Reading The Department of Labor answers more questions about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) separately released a FAQ devoted solely to an employer’s posting obligations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Each covered employer must post a notice (available in English and Spanish) of the FFCRA requirements in a conspicuous place on its premises. Where an employer has employees reporting directly to work in several different buildings, the employer must post all required federal notices in each building, even if the buildings are located in the same general vicinity.
Continue Reading DOL releases Families First Coronavirus Response Act poster and clarifies posting obligations

On March 10, 2020, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared a State of Disaster Emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor directed that immediate rulemaking be initiated to provide employees in certain industries paid sick leave for possible COVID-19 testing. The next day, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment published the Colorado Health Emergency Leave with Pay Rules. These emergency rules became effective on March 11, 2020, and remain in effect for the longer of (a) 30 days after adoption (in other words, April 10, 2020); or (b) the duration of the State of Disaster Emergency, up to a maximum of 120 days after adoption of the emergency rules (in other words, up to July 9, 2020).
Continue Reading Colorado enacts paid sick leave rules

In what may be the first COVID-19 whistleblower action to be filed in the country, Lauri Mazurkiewicz sued her former employer, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, on March 23, 2020.  Ms. Mazurkiewicz, a nurse, filed her lawsuit in Illinois state court. She alleges that the hospital fired her after she raised concern over the masks being provided to its health care workers. Ms. Mazurkiewicz claims that the actions of the hospital and its management violated Illinois’s Whistleblower Act and also amounted to retaliatory discharge.
Continue Reading Nurse brings COVID-19 whistleblower suit against Northwestern Hospital

On March 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a Q&A page to resolve some of the most pressing questions regarding emergency Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and paid sick leave offered under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and its application to employers. Additionally, the DOL released the required poster regarding the Act which an employer must maintain in its workplace.

While the public awaits the DOL’s final regulations interpreting the FFCRA, the DOL’s Q&A provides some guidance as to where DOL enforcement of the FFCRA is heading ahead of the act’s effective date of April 1, 2020.Continue Reading Department of Labor releases Q&A regarding Families First Coronavirus Response Act and mandatory posters