UPDATED MARCH 25, 2021 Starting now, many, but not all, local government employees are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.  In an earlier blog post, I outlined North Carolina’s vaccination priority plan. The state has made changes to the plan to align … Read more

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, commonly called the stimulus bill and signed into law on December 27, 2020, let the leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) expire.  No longer are employers obligated by law to grant … Read more

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), passed in March as the federal government’s first response to the COVID-19 crisis, is a law with many parts. The Emergency Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act … Read more

UPDATED MARCH 25, 2021 Every year many employers choose to require employees to undergo vaccination against seasonal influenza (flu). This year, however, a different decision will confront employers: whether to require employees to undergo vaccination against COVID-19. The flu vaccine … Read more

On September 16, 2020, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) published revisions to its Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) regulations in the Federal Register. The revisions were made in response to an August 3, 2020 ruling by a … Read more

On August 8, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order  as part of an effort to put more spending money in consumers’ pockets and stimulate the economy.  The Order authorized employers to defer the withholding and deposit of the employee … Read more

In the scramble to respond to COVID-19, I forgot to announce that my new book, A Comprehensive Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act for Public Employers, was published on March 16th! I’ve been working on this for a good … Read more

To slow the spread of COVID-19, to comply with Governor Cooper’s stay-at-home order, and to deal with budget stresses,  many local governments are considering furloughs. A furlough occurs when one or more employees are put into a temporary leave without … Read more

THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 On Monday morning, April, 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued regulations implementing the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (the Emergency FMLA Act”) and the Emergency … Read more

THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN UPDATED ON APRIL 24, 2020. When employers make payments to employees under the new emergency paid leave provisions of legislation enacted to address the COVID-19 crisis, they will not take out deductions for social security, … Read more