Resources

Client Alerts, News Articles, Blog Posts, & Multimedia

Everything you need to know about BMD and the industry.

A Potential Childcare Disruption for Rehired Employees

Client Alert
May 14, 2020

As businesses reopen, employers with fewer than 500 employees need to brush up on the FFCRA Paid Leave rules, including a potential disruption to your return to operations. 

Under the FFCRA, employees may be eligible for up to 80 hours of Emergency Paid Sick Leave, and up to 12 weeks of paid Emergency Childcare Leave. The eligibility and use of Childcare Leave have presented the most questions. Check out Bryan Meek’s article about summer vacations. 

Under the FFCRA and the Department of Labor guidance, employees would be eligible for Childcare Leave only if the employer had them on its payroll for at least 30 calendar days immediately prior to the day leave would begin. 

Many of the reinstated employees have been on unemployment, rather than the employer’s payroll for the past month or so.  

Does this mean the rehired employees are not eligible for Childcare Leave until they work for at least a month? Not necessarily. 

Why? Under the CARES Act, Congress added a loophole for rehired employees. If an employee was laid off on or after March 1, 2020 and is then rehired, the employee is immediately eligible for Childcare Leave if the employee worked 30 of the last 60 calendar days prior to layoff. 

What is the concern? An employee can return to work as part of a rehire program for one day, and then go on 12 weeks of a combination of Emergency Sick Leave and Emergency Childcare Leave paid at a 2/3 rate up to $200 per day. 

What should employers do? The Childcare Leave process is designed to be interactive. Engage in an interactive process with your employees about their scheduling and childcare needs. You can remind employees that the childcare disruptions will likely extend into the next school year, so it’s wise to conserve the leave for when it is absolutely necessary. 

For additional questions, please contact Jeffrey Miller 216.658.2323 or any member of the Labor + Employment Team of BMD.  

child care;FFCRAcovid-19coronavirusCARES Actchildcare leaveDOL
Client Alert

Supreme Court Rules that Employers Must Show Substantial Increased Costs to Legally Decline Employees’ Religious Accommodation Requests

June 29, 2023On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Groff v. DeJoy that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) employers must show, in order to decline religious accommodations, that the burden of granting religious accommodations to employees will result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of an employer’s particular business, thus amending the prior, simple standard of a “de minimis” undue hardship.Client Alert

Recent HIPAA Breach Settlements - Lessons Learned

June 19, 2023According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the consequences for providers may include settlements of $30,000 to $240,000. OCR recently released two settlements for improper breaches of protected health information (PHI) that are good examples of the major monetary penalties that can result from common HIPAA mistakes.Client Alert

Supreme Court Issues Major False Claims Act Decision

June 5, 2023Client Alert

Telehealth Flexibility Updates: HIPAA, DEA, and CMS

May 12, 2023The Covid-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) officially ended on May 11, 2023. But what does that mean for telehealth, a field that expanded exponentially during the PHE? Fortunately, many of the flexibilities will remain intact, at least temporarily. This client alert presents a brief overview of the timelines that providers need to follow, but for a more comprehensive review of telehealth flexibilities and when they will endClient Alert, Multimedia

WEBINAR SERIES RECAP | Ending the Public Health Emergency + Post-Pandemic Check-Up

May 10, 2023Some may take the position that the rest of the country already returned to a new “normal” following the COVID-19 pandemic.  But healthcare providers continue to implement COVID protocols and navigate the ever-changing healthcare regulations at both the federal and state levels.  It is important for healthcare providers to take time for a “Healthcare Check-Up” with the start of 2023 and the ending of the Public Health Emergency (“PHE”).
Older posts
Newer posts