Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. Firm News & Events
As part of Lindabury’s work with the Mechanical Contractors Association of New York, James Estabrook and Elizabeth Engret Manzo have authored guidance on COVID-19 related leave under New York state law.
You can download a copy of the guidance here.
Labor & Employment Insights
New Jersey Delays Effective Date of WARN Act Amendments and Extends the Exemption for Layoffs Due to Disasters and National Emergencies
Since the onslaught of layoffs and furloughs caused by the COVID-19 crisis, many employers found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the onerous severance and notice obligations imposed by the January 2020 Amendments to New Jersey’s Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (“NJ WARN Act”), slated to go into effect on July 19, 2020.
To alleviate the consequences for businesses already struggling with the effects of the pandemic, on April 14, 2020 Governor Murphy signed into law a bill that delays the effective date of the NJ WARN Act amendments until 90 days after the lifting of the COVID-19 state of emergency, currently expected to expire on July 7, 2020. Unless the Governor extends the state of emergency to a later date, the NJ WARN Act amendments will not go into effect until October 5, 2020. The new law is effective immediately and is retroactive to March 9, 2020.
As we discussed in a prior publication, the NJ WARN Act was amended to significantly expand employee rights in the event of a plant closure or mass layoff. Among other things, the amendments
When an Employee Needs Leave Under the FFCRA, What Documentation Does the Employer Require to Receive Tax Credits?
Our employee says they need Paid Leave under the FFCRA. What documentation can the company require from the employee to ensure these payments qualify for employer tax credits?
Under the Families First Coronavirus Protection Act (FFRCA), employers are eligible for tax credits for any payment of qualified Emergency Sick Leave or Emergency Family and Medical Leave benefits mandated by the new law. Going forward, employers must be sure to require and maintain appropriate documentation from employees requesting leave to substantiate to the IRS that the employer credit is warranted. Additional information about what constitutes a “qualified” use of Emergency Sick Leave or Emergency Family and Medical Leave can be found here.
Eligible employers are entitled to retain a 100% credit for the payment of all qualified sick leave and family leave wages, plus allocable qualified health plan expenses and the employer’s share of Medicare taxes, rather than depositing them with the IRS. Employers must retain records and documentation related to and supporting each employee’s leave to substantiate the claim for the credits, and retain the Forms 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, and 7200, Advance of Employer Credits Due To COVID-19, and any other applicable filings made to the IRS requesting the credit.
Administering COVID-19 Relief – Guidance for Employers: Fact Sheets, FAQs and Q&As from Federal Agencies
The speed in which the Congress and various federal agencies have acted in response to the coronavirus outbreak has caused confusion among employers about what they must do to comply with these new laws and regulations. To assist employers we have compiled a list of fact sheets, Q&As and FAQs produced by several governmental agencies that will hopefully provide some clarity.
As always, you can contact Lindabury’s Labor & Employment group with any questions you may have.
US DOL Employee Rights Under the FFCRA poster required to be posted by employers: The FFCRA mandates that employers prominently display this poster in the workplace by April 1, 2020. The poster can be downloaded here.
New Jersey Expands Earned Sick Leave, Family Leave, and Temporary Disability Benefits in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic
On March 26, 2020, Governor Murphy signed into law S-2304 expanding the scope of the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law, the New Jersey Family Leave Act, and the New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits Law to broaden benefits available to employees who are absent from work due to epidemics such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These changes, as set forth more fully below, became effective immediately.
New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law
Under New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law, employees may use earned sick leave for absences related to, among other reasons, the closure of the “employee’s workplace, or the school or place of care of a child of the employee, by order of a public official due to an epidemic or other public health emergency, or because of the issuance by a public health authority of a determination that the presence in the community of the employee, or a member of the employee’s family in need of care by the employee, would jeopardize the health of others”.
Town Hall Discussion – Families First Coronavirus Response Act
On April 1, 2020 James Estabrook and Kathleen Connelly of the firm’s Labor & Employment group hosted a webinar discussion for members of the Northern New Jersey and Southern New Jersey chapters of the National Electrical Contractors Association.
The webinar addressed questions regarding employee leave rights and benefits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
You can watch and listen to a recording of the webinar on our firm’s YouTube channel here.
Employee Benefits Provisions of the CARES Act
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES” Act) was passed, making it the third federal law to address the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health pandemic. The Act, designed to provide additional relief to those affected by the pandemic, contains multiple provisions that specifically implicate multiemployer plans as set forth more fully below.
Coronavirus Related Distribution
The Act allows defined contribution plans to adopt provisions allowing for early distributions, up to a maximum of $100,000, for qualified individuals who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Qualified individuals include the following:
DOL Issues Guidance on Emergency Sick Leave and Emergency FMLA Leave Under The FFCRA
Last week in our publication entitled Employer’s Guide to Federal and State Employee Leave Rights and Income Protection for Coronavirus Related Absences, we addressed the new Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“Emergency FMLA Leave”) that employers must provide to employees as of April 1, 2020 under the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). As indicated in that publication, the US Department of Labor was expected to issue additional guidance of compliance with these new paid leave obligations.
Since the passage of the FFCRA, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued several versions of a Questions and Answers publication that clarifies some of the issues that were not directly addressed in the FFCRA. Below is a summary of some of those clarifications.
Documentation Employees Must Submit to Support a Paid FFCRA Leave Request. The FFCRA mandates Emergency Paid Sick Leave if the employee is able to work/telework for one of 6 Covid-19 related absences (refer to the Guidance link above for the list of 6 qualifying reasons) and paid Emergency FMLA Leave if the employee is unable to work due to a child’s school or daycare closure (or unavailability of daycare provide). The DOL makes it clear that employers must require employees to provide documentation to support an Emergency Paid Sick Leave or Emergency FMLA Leave, including:
New Jersey Adopts Additional Job Protections for Employees Suffering From the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
On March 19, 2020, Governor Murphy signed a new law that grants immediate protection to employees who have or are likely to have an “infectious disease” caused by “a living organism or other pathogen, including a fungus, bacteria, parasite, protozoan, virus or poison, which may or may not be transmissible from person to person, animal to person, or insect to person.” The coronavirus is an infectious disease within the meaning of the law.
Employer Mandates: The law mandates that an employer may NOT terminate the employment of any employee who requests or who takes time off from work based on a written or electronically transmitted recommendation from a New Jersey medical professional that the employee should take time off for a specified period because the employee has or is likely to have an infectious disease. Additionally, the employer may NOT refuse to reinstate the employee to work after the expiration of the leave specified by the medical professional. Reinstatement must be to the same position held when the leave commenced without any additional penalties.
Violations: Any employer violating this new law will be compelled to reinstate the employee to his/her prior position and is subject to a fine of $2,500 for each violation.
The Employer’s Guide to Federal and State Employee Leave Rights and Income Protection for Coronavirus-related Absences
Updated as of April 1, 2020
In recent days employers have been faced with very difficult and unanticipated situations in the workplace. Employee absences from the workplace, whether related to personal or family illness due to the virus, voluntary or involuntary quarantines, fear of contracting the virus, reductions in hours, workplace furloughs or closures, may implicate leave rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA), as well as paid sick leave rights under the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave law. In addition, employees may be eligible for additional income protection from state unemployment, temporary disability and workers compensation funds.
Signed into law on March 18, 2019 the Families First Coronavirus Response Act has several components, including paid sick leave and paid FMLA leave obligations aimed at easing the financial impact of the virus upon employees. This guide synthesizes the various federal and state programs and answers questions about the leave and income protections are available to employees who find themselves unable to work due to the coronavirus epidemic.