Employers in Denver need not worry about adding paid sick and “safe” time leave for everyone who works for them at least 40 hours a week – voters rejected the proposal by an almost two-to-one margin Denver’s Ballot Initiative 300…
Author Archives: William Hoffman
California Expands Health Insurance Protection for Pregnant Workers
October 21, 2011 – 2:46 pm
Starting Jan. 1, 2012, employers in California with five or more employees must continue paying their share of health insurance premiums for female employees taking leave under the Pregnancy Disability Leave law for up to four months in any 12-month…
OPM Extends FMLA Benefits for Military Families
October 13, 2011 – 6:07 pm
Federal workers can now take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to make child care arrangements and address other issues that can arise when a family member is called to active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. The…
FMLA’s ‘Needed to Care for’ Standard Requires Proximity
October 6, 2011 – 3:12 pm
The Family and Medical Leave Act requires that employees taking unpaid time off to care for a relative must stay close to that person during most of that leave, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said in deciding Baham…
Employee Suit Evaporates Because No FMLA Rights Denied
September 27, 2011 – 12:00 pm
The decision in Quinn v. St. Louis Co. illuminates a fine line for employers. While eligible workers must be granted unpaid time off for qualifying serious health conditions under the FMLA, the court showed that interference must have material consequences…
7th Cir. Rejects FMLA Claim that Supervisor Exacerbated Illness
September 22, 2011 – 3:13 pm
Alleging that a supervisor exacerbated an employee’s pre-existing health condition is not a valid theory of liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The issue of serious health conditions covered by…
Timing of the Essence: Firing for Misusing 20 Minutes of Leave Was Unfair, Appeals Court Says
September 13, 2011 – 5:30 pm
An employer’s desire to quickly fire an employee can drag it into violating labor laws. Recently, the firing of an employee for misusing 20 minutes of family medical leave led to conclusions that the firing was retaliation for union activity….
Timing of Backaches Justifies Firing, Negates FLMA and ADA Claims
September 1, 2011 – 12:22 pm
Some people complain about “rheumatism,” backaches and other physical ills when the weather shifts. For a Southwest Airlines employee, his backaches — and resulting requests for Family and Medical Act (FMLA) leave — seemed to follow the same shift as…
California Clarifies Organ, Bone Marrow Donor Law
August 26, 2011 – 4:31 pm
Employers’ obligations to provide workers paid time off for organ and bone marrow donation under the state’s labor code were clarified under a bill California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) recently signed into law. Currently, any employee who uses up his…
Office of Special Counsel Aims at Fed Agencies with USERRA Project
August 12, 2011 – 5:06 pm
A new project adds another layer of bureaucratic oversight about which federal employers should be aware when dealing with employees exercising their rights to job protection under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). The U.S. Office of…