Mandatory paid sick leave related to COVID-19 expiring in 2021: What you need to know
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act made employee paid sick and family leave mandatory with a tax credit for employers. Now, that paid leave is optional. Author: Samantha Solomon (ABC10) Updated: 2:34 PM PST December 30, 2020
SACRAMENTO, Calif. With the second federal stimulus bill now going into effect, a lot of programs and provisions that were set to expire at the end of 2020 will now be extended.
This does not include the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which made paid leave a requirement for some employers to offer during the coronavirus pandemic.
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A bevy of laws go into effect Jan. 1 following California Gov. Gavin Newsomâs signature in 2020. Here are five pieces of legislation highlighted to keep in mind going into the new year.
Archived file photo by Roberto Flores/Palo Verde Valley Times
By Uriel Avendano/Times Editor Dec 30, 2020
COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Prompts EEOC to Update Guidance Regarding Mandatory Vaccinations in the Workplace
The rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the United States has triggered extensive discussion around the law concerning mandatory vaccine policies in the workplace. This discussion will almost certainly evolve over the coming months, as more becomes known about vaccine availability at the time of widespread office reopening, side effects and other considerations.
In the meantime, on December 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its pandemic-related guidance and FAQs, principally with respect to the interplay between workplace vaccine mandates and federal anti-discrimination laws. Consistent with prior EEOC guidance regarding flu and other vaccinations, the EEOC reaffirmed that, in general, employers may lawfully impose a vaccine mandate as a condition to return to the workplace, and, more specifically, as a lawful qualification s
Seyfarth Synopsis:
The National Retail Federation (NRF) and others brought an action against the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), and the Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (Board) claiming that the Agency did not legally establish its recent emergency COVID-19 workplace regulations, while adding undue financial burdens to employers.
The December 16, 2020, complaint for declaratory relief, in
COVID-19 emergency temporary standards (ETS), and warns of dire financial consequences for businesses in California if they are forced to comply.
The Complaint criticizes the Board for forcing through an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) that required almost immediate “clarification” through FAQs and guidance, which in part appear to directly contradict the language of the ETS itself. The complaint also challenges the COVID-19 testing requirements and notes that the requirements apply equally to
In summary
California employment law has become an electrified maze of regulations where walls shift without reason and once-safe paths are suddenly blocked.
By Dave Puglia, Special to CalMatters
Dave Puglia is president and CEO of
, davep@wga.com.
In his sequel to “Alice in Wonderland,” Lewis Carroll depicts a fantastical world in which his heroine finds that, like a reflection in a mirror, everything is reversed, including logic. Since “Through the Looking-Glass” was published in 1871, the idiom has come to describe situations where you find the opposite of what is normal or would be expected.
This frame of reference often pops into my mind as farmers confront California’s many laws and regulations.