COVID-19 never really went away but now, with the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant, local governments have an increasing problem. They are finding that employees are unable to work because they are infected with Delta or have been … Read more

In December 2020, I published a blog post titled May a Public Employer Require Vaccination Against COVID-19?. In that post I concluded that a public employer may require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. … Read more

Local government employers are now eligible for credits against the social security and Medicare tax payments that they must make, if they voluntarily extend Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave (EFMLA leave) through September 30, … 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 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

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

[UPDATE: Section 4.31 of Session Law 2020-3 enacted new G.S. 166A-19.24, which imposes a variety of procedural requirements on remote meetings held by public bodies during a state of emergency declared by the Governor or General Assembly. As defined by … Read more

[Update 11/18/2020: Section 5.2(a) of the Governor’s Executive Order 169 (extended by Executive Order 176) generally exempts “government operations” from the order’s prohibitions on mass gatherings.  The NC Department of Public Safety interprets “government operations” to include local government board meetings. Section … Read more

THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 On March 18, 2020, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Families First Act”). The Families First Act is actually a compilation … Read more