State & Local Employment Law Developments: Q2 2021 | Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sunday, February 21, 2021
One year into the pandemic, life feels as uncertain as ever. This uncertainty extends to questions about employee rights and protections in the workplace. Some new rights have come to be or may be on the horizon, and other existing rights have been illuminated. However, across the spectrum of employee rights and protections, there are still major gaps.
What’s New
While not specifically enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, parts of the new Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave Act went into effect on January 1, 2021. Employees are now entitled to paid, job-protected leave for a number of reasons, including their own serious health condition, for which an employee is entitled to up to 20 weeks of paid leave per year. Beginning on July 1, 2021, employees will also become entitled to paid leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition for up to 12 weeks per year.
Employers need to educate their workers and stay up-to-date on changes in Connecticut’s new Paid Family Medical Leave Act to avoid pitfalls that could result in expensive penalties, HR consulting firm Mercer warned at an event on Wednesday.
More than 300 registered for a Mercer webcast on the new leave program, which required employers to start withholding employee contributions on Jan. 1. The deduction was set at 0.5% of the first $142,800 of wages, with most employees eligible, including part-time and seasonal workers.
Although employees pay for the new program through their contributions, employers are responsible for administering it and should consider third-party vendors as the task becomes more complex, said Rich Fuerstenberg, a senior partner at Mercer.
Minimum wage hike, Family and Medical Leave Act take effect Jan. 1; here’s what businesses and workers say it means to them
Updated Dec 28, 2020;
Posted Dec 28, 2020
Jeremiah Micka holds a remote ordering machine at Union Station in Northampton, Dec. 8, 2020. (Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican)
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NORTHAMPTON Jeremiah Micka has been dealing with a lot lately.
Like many, the owner of the Union Station complex in Northampton which includes the Tunnel Bar, the Roosevelt Room banquet facility, the Platform Sports Bar and a patio bar called The Deck has struggled to keep his business afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the new year, he and his fellow business owners will get even more on their plates.
NORWICH As 2020 comes to a close, many businesses are still struggling due to the pandemic, and they made their issues known on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce and the Norwich Community Development Corp. held their virtual legislative forum, when businesses had the opportunity to share their concerns with both local Democratic and Republican members of the state House and Senate.
Rebecca Alberts, co-owner of These Guys Brewing in Norwich, told legislators and fellow business owners about her struggles during the pandemic. She said she, along with her co-owner husband Ray Alberts, haven’t taken a paycheck in four months, and have been using up their personal savings to keep the brewpub going. Even with their sacrifices, Rebecca Alberts said they had to let go 16 of the 24 employees they had prior to the pandemic.