SUTTON | HAGUE

On April 16, 2020, California Governor Newsome signed Executive Order N-51-20, which provides supplemental paid sick leave (“COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave”) for food sector workers who work for a hiring entity that has 500 or more employees nationwide for certain circumstances related to COVID-19. The type of food sector workers the Executive Order covers ranges from farmworkers to those […]

With COVID-19 stay-at-home orders resulting in the closure of many businesses’ physical locations, employers able to convert to telework have been able to continue operating during the recent period of forced isolation.  While this flexibility has allowed some companies to avoid the dire consequences other businesses face, telework presents other issues companies must keep in mind. In particular, for California […]

Despite emergency legislation passed last month to support businesses dealing with the effects of COVID-19, the pandemic continues to force many employers to reduce payrolls.  Employers considering significant reductions to their workforce must be mindful of requirements under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) Act and similar laws in some states, including California. First Things First: Considering Alternatives […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is attempting to clarify how workplace anti-discrimination laws are to be applied in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recommendations of the CDC and WHO. In the EEOC’s March 27, 2020 webinar, Carol Miaskoff, Associate Legal Counsel for the EEOC, and her colleagues explained that the current crisis permits employers to ask questions […]

The Secretary of Labor promulgated two dozen new regulations to aid in the implementation of the leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) signed by the president on March 18th.  The new regulations cover everything from defining the term “child” to the procedure for filing a complaint for non-compliance.  Among the highlights, the regulations clarify the following: […]

As California employers begin to digest new federal legislation mandating and funding extended paid leave benefits relating to COVID-19, employers must also be mindful of state and local requirements for employee paid sick leave.  In this post, we examine the latest developments addressing paid sick leave by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Emeryville, Oakland, San Diego, Santa Monica, Berkeley, and San […]

On March 28, 2020, the DOL updated its “Question and Answers” page for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), providing additional guidance on a number of topics relating to employer and employee responsibilities and rights under the Act.  The FFCRA is the emergency legislation requiring employers with less than 500 employees to provide paid short- and long-term leave for […]

On Friday, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, a $2.2 trillion stimulus package designed to provide financial relief across many sectors of the economy.  This latest emergency COVID-19 legislation allocates $350 billion for small business loans for the purpose of meeting payroll costs (Paycheck Protection Program). A key feature of the CARES Act’s Paycheck […]

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) has released an FAQ, which provides timely guidance on civil rights issues for California employers and employees, in the midst of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the DFEH FAQ is consistent with previously issued guidance from the agency’s federal counterpart, the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”).  The EEOC had […]

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor released additional guidance for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), the emergency COVID-19 legislation. The DOL also issued three wage and hour opinion letters concerning certain exclusions employers may make when calculating an employee’s regular rate of pay. New COVID-19 Guidance The Families First Coronavirus Response Act requires employers with less than 500 […]