On April 1, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a temporary rule providing key guidance on paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The rule clarifies that employees covered under a federal, state or local stay–at-home order may be eligible for paid FFCRA leave but only if work or telework
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance which answers a number of key questions on the new federal coronavirus paid sick leave and emergency Family and Medical Leave Act leave, including when the law takes effect, how to count employees for purposes of the 500-employee threshold, how to treat related employers and other key
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provides relief to families and workers facing the global coronavirus pandemic.
The FFCRA provides: (1) free diagnostic testing for coronavirus; (2) food assistance to low-income pregnant women and mothers with young children, food banks, seniors and students; (3)
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued six advisory opinion letters on various Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) issues. From time to time, opinion letters such as these are issued to provide legal guidance to employers.
The DOL opinion letter likely to be of most interest to US companies is the one that addressed whether an employee in good health who voluntarily chooses to undergo organ donation surgery could use FMLA leave for post-operative care. See FMLA2018-2-A. The DOL opined that this would qualify as a “serious health condition” under the FMLA if it involved either “inpatient care” or “continuing treatment.” See 29 C.F.R. §§ 825.114 and 825.115.
Though the DOL opinion letter touched on medical certification as a “basic requirement” for FMLA leave, the DOL did not appear to find it significant that the employee was choosing to undergo the surgery voluntarily and “solely to improve someone else’s health.” Instead, it focused on the medical treatment that would be involved in the organ donation surgery.
The other DOL opinion letters covered a variety of topics, and set forth the following opinions:
On March 27, 2015, employers must provide FMLA benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married regardless of whether the employee lives in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage.
The FMLA entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. More specifically, eligible employees may take