3/20/20
By: Catherine Scott
As the federal government continues to grapple with questions from employers regarding COVID-19, the federal agencies have begun to roll out new guidance. The latest comes from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which has issued guidance for employers seeking answers concerning their obligations pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
DOL Guidance for FLSA
The FLSA provides rules and regulations concerning how employees must be paid, including the payment of wages and overtime. Employers around the country have wrestled with whether they can reduce salary and/or hours or furlough or lay off employees as the economy slows down due to COVID-19 and whether employees are required to be paid and in what manner.
The DOL has answered several frequently asked questions concerning these issues. The latest guidance provides as follows:
Pay issues can be complicated and very fact-specific (and state-specific) so if you have a question about furloughs, layoffs, or schedule or compensation reductions (whether temporarily or permanently), please contact us so we can assess the individual factual and legal circumstances of your situation.
DOL Guidance for FMLA
Similarly, employers have wrestled with their obligations under the FMLA and whether they must provide job-protected leave to employees who need time away for a qualifying reason. Initially, it is important to understand that any employer that has between 50 – 500 employees should first familiarize itself with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act as that Act (which will be effective April 2, 2020) substantially expands some of the obligations traditional imposed on employers under the FMLA. For those employers, however, that are below 50 or above 50 employees, you should keep the following principles in mind in dealing with the Coronavirus.
The Department of Labor is generally encouraging employers to be flexible in dealing with situations involving employees affected by COVID-19, including re-examining both paid and unpaid leave policies in place at the employer and allowing paid telecommuting to occur.
Additional information:
The FMG Coronavirus Task Team will be conducting a series of webinars on Coronavirus issues every day for the next week. We will discuss the impact of Coronavirus for companies in general, but also for business in insurance, healthcare, California specific issues, cybersecurity, and tort. Click here to register.
FMG has formed a Coronavirus Task Force to provide up-to-the-minute information, strategic advice, and practical solutions for our clients. Our group is an interdisciplinary team of attorneys who can address the multitude of legal issues arising out of the Coronavirus pandemic, including issues related to Healthcare, Product Liability, Tort Liability, Data Privacy, and Cyber and Local Governments. For more information about the Task Force, click here.
You can also contact your FMG relationship partner or email the team with any questions at [email protected].
**DISCLAIMER: The attorneys at Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP (“FMG”) have been working hard to produce educational content to address issues arising from the concern over COVID-19. The webinars and our written material have produced many questions. Some we have been able to answer, but many we cannot without a specific legal engagement. We can only give legal advice to clients. Please be aware that your attendance at one of our webinars or receipt of our written material does not establish an attorney-client relationship between you and FMG. An attorney-client relationship will not exist unless and until an FMG partner expressly and explicitly states IN WRITING that FMG will undertake an attorney-client relationship with you, after ascertaining that the firm does not have any legal conflicts of interest. As a result, you should not transmit any personal or confidential information to FMG unless we have entered into a formal written agreement with you. We will continue to produce educational content for the public, but we must point out that none of our webinars, articles, blog posts, or other similar material constitutes legal advice, does not create an attorney client relationship and you cannot rely on it as such. We hope you will continue to take advantage of the conferences and materials that may pertain to your work or interests.**
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