Alyesha Asghar discusses the potential impact for employers after the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Title VII in Muldrow v. St Louis.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Jeff Nowak says this case will test when workers can take federal job-protected leave prior to a baby’s arrival and won’t drastically change life as we know it because employers are overwhelmingly supportive of their employees’ FMLA rights.

Bloomberg Law

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Currently, employees in the UK on statutory maternity, adoption or shared parental leave who are at risk of redundancy have priority rights to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy (but only where such a vacancy exists).

New regulations have been introduced to extend redundancy protections, both before (for pregnant employees only) and after the return to work. These regulations arose in response to research that found that mothers returning from maternity leave still faced discrimination in the workplace after returning from leave.

Sebastian Chilco and Wendy Buckingham discuss a new San Francisco law that aims to increase income and employment security for private-sector employees when they perform military service.

SHRM Online

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The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) Office of Labor Standards (COLS) recently posted updates to its website regarding minimum wage obligations, paid leave and paid sick and safe leave, new fair work week thresholds, and updated required labor notices. The compliance deadline for these obligations is July 1, 2024.

Jeff Nowak says it is better for companies to add flexibility to employees’ existing leave, rather than create standalone categories and risk creating an atmosphere of exclusion for some employees with different life situations.

SHRM Online

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Jeff Nowak says it may be better for companies to add flexibility to existing leave of absence and disability accommodations for employees, rather than create standalone categories.

SHRM

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If you have employees working in Oregon, chances are you have heard about Oregon’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program also known as Paid Leave Oregon (“PLO”). In addition to PLO, eligible Oregon employees may be entitled to leave under the Oregon Family Medical Leave Act (“OFLA”), Oregon Sick Time law (“OSTL”), and the federal Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

UPDATE: On August 21, 2024, the Attorney General and State of Michigan asked the Michigan Supreme Court to clarify – no later than September 15, 2024 – various rulings in its July 31, 2024 decision, e.g.: 1) How the state should calculate CPI adjustments for the preset minimum wage rates in 2025 through 2028; 2) Whether, aside from in 2025, future minimum wage rates will take effect on February 21 or January 1; and 3) Whether the court intended to have the minimum cash wage increase from 80% (2028) to 100% (2029) rather than 80% (2028), 90%

Lisa Shevlin and Cristin Casey review Oregon’s leave laws and offer some suggested strategies to help employers maintain compliance.

SHRM

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Bradford Kelley discusses the importance of employers reviewing their leave of absence policies to ensure compliance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

Law360 

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Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas and her special guest, Pranam Lipinsk, a dedicated scholar of Generation Z and co-founder of Door of Clubs, delve into the (unofficial) rule book for attracting and retaining these young professionals. They will:

In this attorney-authored article, Steven Friedman of Littler's New York office and Ellen Sueda of Littler's San Francisco office discuss the ambiguities in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the changes that financial institutions must make to their current compensation practices in light of the current legislative language.

On February 1, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) presented a webinar on its new contractor portal through which covered contractors are being asked to certify whether they are meeting their requirement to develop and maintain annual affirmative action programs.

On August 18, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a revised version of its Directive 2022-01 - Advancing Pay Equity Through Compensation Analysis, which was originally issued on March 15, 2022.

On August 22, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Synoracki v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., reviving a class action under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).¹ The case was brought by pilots who served in the Air Force Reserves who were seeking from their civilian employer sick leave and vacation accruals during periods of military leave.

Ellen Donovan McCann, Alice Kokodis and Jim Paretti explain the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave’s new, more employer-friendly guidance.

SHRM Online

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Oregon’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (“Paid Leave Oregon”) generally provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of paid time off for leave that qualifies as family, medical, or safe leave. Since Paid Leave Oregon took effect on September 3, 2023, employees have been stacking Paid Leave Oregon leave benefits and Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) leave benefits, leaving employers frustrated with staffing shortages.

Joon Hwang advises employers to review and scope the terms of their restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements to ensure they are well defined to meet their business interests.

Pit & Quarry

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The federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that certain employers can claim federal tax credits when employees use emergency paid leave to accompany an individual to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination and/or to care for an individual recovering from an injury, disability, illness, or condition related to the vaccine.

Adam Fiss and Sebastian Chilco review updates to California’s paid leave law.

Wolters Kluwer

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Adam Joshua Fiss and Sebastian Chilco discuss a new California law that will eliminate employers’ ability to require employees to use up to two weeks of company-provided vacation before they start receiving paid family leave benefits.

SHRM

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Rhonda Levy, Adrian Jakibchuk, Barry Kuretzky and George Vassos comment on an arbitrator’s ruling that federal employers can count employees’ sick leave credits as paid medical leave days under the Canada Labour Code (CLC) if their own program provides “a more favourable benefit” to workers.

Human Resources Director Canada

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A bill introducing a right to bereavement leave was submitted this summer in the Netherlands. The following is a brief outline of this proposal.   

Current Law

Kelly M. Cardin provides insight about why New York City is expanding its sick leave law to let workers use it to care for pets and service animals.

Law360

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Shannon Meade says Democrats and Republicans both want to make progress on paid leave, but no one is sure whether a national paid leave program will be among their priorities.

Corporate Counsel

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