Archives: FMLA

Connecticut Passes Generous Paid Family and Medical Leave Law

By Saima Sheikh on June 16, 2019 Posted in FMLA

Joining a steadily growing national trend, the Connecticut Legislature recently passed a generous paid family and medical leave bill, which will make Connecticut the seventh state — in addition to California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington, not to mention the District of Columbia — to offer paid family leave. Assuming the … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Enacts Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave and Sets Sights on $15 Minimum Wage

By Shawn Butte on July 19, 2018 Posted in FMLA

On June 28, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a comprehensive bill requiring employers in the state to provide workers with paid family and medical leave. The bill, titled “An Act Relative to Minimum Wage, Paid Family Medical Leave and the Sales Tax Holiday,” also sets a schedule to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 … Continue Reading

Have Your FMLA Forms Expired?

By Fanny Ferdman on July 16, 2018 Posted in FMLA

As many of you know by now, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) maintains model forms to help employers meet the notice requirements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). What some of you may not know is that the forms you are using may have expired! Every three years, the DOL is required … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Lowers Causation Standard for Employees Alleging FMLA Violations

By Amy J. Traub and Saima Sheikh on July 26, 2017 Posted in FMLA

Last week, the Second Circuit joined the Third Circuit in lowering the causation standard in evaluating alleged Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations against employers. Under a lower “motivating factor” standard established in Cassandra Woods v. START Treatment & Recovery Centers, courts within the Second Circuit must consider whether the exercise of an employee’s … Continue Reading

Navigating Through the Smoke: The Intersection of Marijuana Legalization and Employment Law

By Joyce Ackerbaum Cox and Ashley Schachter on December 7, 2016 Posted in ADA, FMLA

Public approval for medical and recreational marijuana is at an all-time high. In November 2016, four states voted to legalize recreational marijuana: California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine (although, at the time of this posting, the vote in Maine is subject to a recount). These states join Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington, … Continue Reading

New York: Paid Leave

By Yalda Haery on April 17, 2016 Posted in FMLA

Until now, within the U.S., only California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington have had paid family leave statutes, none of which offers benefits longer than six weeks. New York now joins those states offering a paid family leave program for its workers, but New York’s program will be the most robust, providing 12 full … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Defines Test for Individual Liability Under the FMLA

By Julie Kwun on April 7, 2016 Posted in FMLA

In Graziadio v. Culinary Institute of America, et al., 15-888-cv (2d. Cir. Mar. 17, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer and individual defendant on the question of individual liability based on a human resource professional’s exercise of … Continue Reading

Protect the Knowledge and Relationships that Make Your Business Valuable

By Matt Roberts on January 19, 2016 Posted in FMLA

Editor’s Note: Originally published by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, this article appeared on their website January 6, 2016. It is republished to BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight with their permission. A key employee leaves. She takes a job with your top competitor. With what she knows – and who she knows – she could undercut your pitches … Continue Reading

No Tag-Backs! Employee Is Entitled to FMLA Coverage, Even Though Not Eligible

By Todd Lebowitz on February 12, 2015 Posted in FMLA

The playground game of tag has been played since at least the Cretaceous Period, with efforts by paleontologists to verify earlier origins of the game inconclusive to date. As all sophisticated tag players know, the unwritten rules of the game permit no tag-backs. Once you’ve been tagged, you can’t quickly undo having become “it” by retagging … Continue Reading

No Return Date, No Problem: Seventh Circuit Reverses FMLA Summary Judgment for Employer

By Pat Muldowney on July 7, 2014 Posted in DOL, FMLA, Leave of Absence

On June 24, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that an employee did not forfeit her right to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to care for her seriously ill adult daughter by failing to provide her employer with an anticipated date of return. Gienapp v. Harbor … Continue Reading

ALERT! The DOL Takes Its First Step Toward Extending Rights for Same-Sex Spouses

By Amy J. Traub on August 21, 2013 Posted in FMLA

Critical employment policies and benefits can depend on whether an employee has a “spouse,” but just who is legally considered a “spouse” has evolved significantly. Employers can no longer assume that “spouse” means a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife. They need to consider state laws, which differ in their … Continue Reading