COVID-19

Pursuant to a new Order issued by New York City’s Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene, beginning December 27 workers in New York City who perform in-person work or interact with the public in the course of their work must provide proof of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination before entering the workplace.  Workers then have 45 days to show proof of their second dose if they received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.  The Order requires employers to exclude from the workplace any worker who has not provided proof of vaccination or been granted a religious or medical accommodation to the vaccine mandate, as well as workers who do not provide proof of a second Pfizer or Moderna dose within 45 days of submitting proof of the first dose.
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Continue Reading New York City Announces Workplace COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

Effective March 12, 2021, all public and private employers in New York must provide each employee with up to four hours of paid leave to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine injection.  The new law, which took effect immediately after being signed by Governor Cuomo, adds a new Section 196-c to the New York Labor Law and Section 159-c to the New York Civil Service Law.

Employees are entitled to paid leave, at their regular rate of pay, for a “sufficient period of time, not to exceed four hours per vaccine injection,” unless the employee is entitled to receive a greater number of hours under an existing employer policy or collective bargaining agreement.  Accordingly, employees who must take two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are entitled to take up to eight hours (i.e., four hours per injection) of leave.  The paid leave provision expires on December 31, 2022.…

Continue Reading New York Employers Now Required to Provide Paid Leave to Take COVID-19 Vaccine

Section 9501 of the American Rescue Plan Act, 2021 (“ARPA”) provides for a complete COBRA premium subsidy for all Assistance Eligible Individuals beginning on April 1, 2021, and ending on September 30, 2021. This article discusses who qualifies as an Assistance Eligible Individual, the impact of the relief on such individuals, the impact of the relief on the COBRA maximum coverage period, the additional requirements imposed on employers in connection with the relief, and how employers may receive reimbursements for the subsidy from the federal government.
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Continue Reading Special Mandatory COBRA Subsidy in 2021 for Involuntarily Terminated Employees

As we discussed in our previous blog post, Temporary Relief Allows Flexible Spending Arrangements to be More Flexible, Section 214 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. 116-260 (the “Act”), allows employers to offer an extended use-it-or-lose-it and/or extended spend-down periods during which participants in a health flexible spending arrangement (“ health FSA”) may have access to unused health FSA amounts until the end of the subsequent plan year and/or after they terminate participation in the health FSA mid-year, respectively. In certain cases, access to unused health FSA amounts can make an individual ineligible to contribute to a health savings account (an “HSA”).
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Continue Reading Preserving HSA Eligibility With An Extended Health FSA Use-It-Or-Lose-It Period

Section 214 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. 116-260 (the “Act”), allows sponsors of health and dependent care flexible spending arrangements (“FSAs”) to delay forfeitures of unused account balances for 2020 and 2021 plan years and grant participants, including former participants, more time to spend down account balances. Section 214 and implementing guidance also give employers another opportunity to allow participants to change their elections with respect to FSAs and health plans. On February 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued IRS Notice 2021-15 to help explain and expand the parameters of this relief.
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Continue Reading Temporary Relief Allows Flexible Spending Arrangements to be More Flexible

Effective January 1, 2021, California employers will be required under Assembly Bill (AB) 685 to provide detailed notices to employees when there is a COVID-19 case in the workplace and to notify local public health departments of COVID-19 “outbreaks” in the workplace.  California employers should begin assessing their practices now to ensure that they will be ready to comply with AB 685 come January 1.

Below is a summary of the key requirements under AB 685 and recent California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidance on AB 685, including FAQs and definitions.…

Continue Reading California’s AB 685 Expands Employers’ COVID-19 Notification Requirements, Effective January 1

On November 30, 2020, emergency temporary COVID-19 workplace standards (“ETS”) issued by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) took effect.  The ETS, which requires stringent workplace protocols intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, applies to all California employers, other than those subject to the Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease standard or those with only one employee at the workplace who does not have contact with others.  Under the ETS, employers must adopt and implement a comprehensive COVID-19 prevention program that includes identification and correction of COVID-19 risks, employee screening, investigation of cases, use of face coverings and other protective equipment, exclusion of exposed employees, and provision of free COVID-19 testing in certain circumstances, among other requirements.  The ETS also mandates testing and other action when there are multiple infections or an “outbreak” in a workplace.

Cal/OSHA promptly published a “Frequently Asked Questions” document (“FAQs”), a one-page summary of the ETS, and a Model Prevention Plan.  These documents shed additional light on the ETS and how it might be enforced.

Below is an overview of the key takeaways from the new ETS and subsequent Cal/OSHA publications.…

Continue Reading California Employers Must Comply with New Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standards

On Saturday 31 October, the UK Government announced a new national lockdown and confirmed the extension of the existing Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, more commonly referred to as the “furlough” scheme.

In this alert, we set out what the UK Government has announced and what this means in terms of the support available to employers, including the status of the Job Support Scheme (the “JSS”), which was originally due to replace the furlough scheme from yesterday.…

Continue Reading Extension of the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

On May 12, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published Notices 2020-29 and 2020-33. Notice 2020-29 is the latest installment in COVID-19 relief guidance targeted at health and welfare benefits. The Notice enables employers to provide flexibility to employees to modify their health coverage and flexible spending account (“FSA”) elections and gives employees until the end of 2020 (but not 2021) to use certain FSA amounts that may otherwise be forfeited. Unlike certain COVID-19 relief related to retirement plans, employers may make the relief under Notice 2020-29 available to all participants, regardless of whether they have suffered a COVID-19-related loss.

Notice 2020-33 allows employers to adopt an indexed maximum carryover amount for health FSAs, beginning with amounts that may be carried over from the 2020 plan year to the 2021 plan year.…

Continue Reading IRS Empowers Employers to Increase Health Coverage, FSA Election Flexibility During Pandemic; Clarifies HDHP COVID-19 Relief