Some employers that rely on staffing arrangements, franchise relationships, or independent contractors may see meaningful shifts in federal labor policy because of a pair of federal agency rulemaking announcements released in February 2026.
Continue Reading Labor Policy Pendulum Swings Again: New Federal Rules Reshape Joint-Employer and Independent Contractor Standards
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Opinion Letter FMLA2025-01-A, clarifying the complex interaction between (1) the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), (2) state-paid family and medical leave program (PFML) benefits and (3) employer-provided accrued vacation, paid time off, and/or paid sick time (employer-paid leave).
Continue Reading The DOL’s New Guidance on the Interplay of the Federal FMLA and State-Paid Family Medical Leave Programs
As the new school year approaches, some California employers will have to deal with the continued closure of schools, which impacts many working parents, and consequently their employers. Already, the Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento Unified School Districts have announced they will not re-open in the fall. (Read the California Department of Public Health
The New York Paid Family Leave law (NYPFL), which becomes effective Jan. 1, 2018, mandates that private employers provide coverage for certain types of employee leave. The benefits will be administered and payments made by the employer’s disability carrier (or by the employer if self-insured), in the same manner as disability benefits. Funding of the
In a welcome decision to employers, the Third Circuit decided last week, for the first time, that an employer’s mere “honest belief” that an employee misused FMLA leave is sufficient to defeat a retaliation claim. As an employee claiming retaliation for using protected FMLA leave must prove that the very exercise of that right was
In Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland, in a 5-4 plurality ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that states are immune from suit as sovereigns under the self-care provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. Coleman was an employee of the Maryland