Paid Sick Leave

On March 18, the federal government passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The FFCRA consists of several different parts, including the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA). The FFCRA is designed to help employees by providing paid sick and family leave for reasons related to COVID-19, that will be dollar-for-dollar reimbursed by the federal government through a refundable tax credit to employers.

I was recently retained by a new client to defend the company against wage and hour charges brought by a former employee that were filed with the California Labor Commissioner’s office. As I do whenever I get a new client, I asked if they had an employee handbook or other written personnel policies. Unfortunately, they did not. This makes it much more difficult to defend against employment claims brought by employees. The failure to have written policies may be taken as evidence that you do not comply with your legal obligations.

Whenever I do employee handbook reviews for new clients, I make sure to always remove their no-fault attendance policies.  These are policies where discipline is automatic after a certain number of absences or a certain number of days of reporting to work late – regardless of the reason for the absence or tardiness. These policies could open an employer up to liability for violating state and federal law requiring reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities, state and local law providing for mandatory paid sick leave, as well as various other protected leave laws.