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Unfortunately, the economic reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, including recent shelter in place orders in California, is forcing employers to implement a range of cost-cutting measures – furloughs, temporary office and location closings, and layoffs. As employers continue to adjust operations during these extraordinary times, it is essential to remember the notice obligation under the…

Everything You Need To Know Right Now

After a “warp speed” Senate vote overwhelmingly approving the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), President Trump signed the FFCRA into law yesterday. The legislation is historic; it was not only enacted in days instead of the usual months, but for the first time in US history, many…

Effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Marin, and Contra Costa counties imposed Shelter-In-Place Orders. These Orders require all individuals ordered to shelter in place in their residences and for businesses to cease all activities at facilities located within the listed counties and with certain exceptions for: (1) “Essential Businesses” (as defined by the Orders); and (2) “Minimum Basic Operations” for businesses that do not qualify as “Essential Businesses.” The Shelter-In-Place Orders currently remain in effect through April 7. At this time, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties have not issued similar mandates.

The intent of the Orders is to ensure the maximum number of people self-isolate in their places of residence to the maximum extent feasible, while enabling essential services to continue, and to slow the spread of Coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) to the maximum extent possible. Although each of the seven Bay Area counties issued a separate Order, the substantive terms of the Orders are the same.

What Businesses are Covered by the Orders?

All businesses with a facility in the above-listed counties, except for “Essential Businesses,” are covered by the Orders. The Orders list 21 categories of Essential Businesses, ranging from healthcare operations and hardware stores to businesses that ship or deliver goods directly to residences. Employees of Essential Businesses may perform travel to/from and related to the Essential Business. The full list of Essential Businesses may be found here:Continue Reading Shelter-In-Place Orders Take Effect In The San Francisco Bay Area

Current and Anticipated Requirements

The stark reality of government quarantines, mass-gathering bans, school closures, public health emergencies, and travel restrictions is impacting the American workplace and workforce in truly unprecedented ways. Every day, US employers institute facility closures, remote-working, furloughs and, in some cases, layoffs in response to the economic and health impacts of the…

Encouraging employees to wash their hands is no longer enough!

As anticipated in our last alert, the World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared the COVID-19 virus a pandemic, changing the legal landscape for employers in terms of how they navigate the impact of the outbreak on their workforce. As such, we are circulating an…

Employers and their workforce are waking up to news this morning of further US travel restrictions given the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, the restrictions affect most travelers from the European Union (EU). The following are highlights of what you need to know today:

Foreign nationals who have visited the Schengen Area in the past 14…

The 2020 presidential race is well underway in the U.S. Labor policy has been and will continue to be a key talking point for Democratic candidates and President Donald Trump moving into the general election.

In part one of this two-part article, we examine the key labor policy proposals advanced by the leading Democratic contenders…

When encouraging employees to wash their hands is not enough!

As the COVID-19 virus spreads rapidly throughout the world, and the possibility of a pandemic declaration inches closer each day, much of the advice to employers so far has focused on generic “good hygiene” recommendations from health departments.This advice is of limited utility for employers…

As the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads into the broader economy, human resource professionals are finding that grappling with the consequences are more complicated in union-represented workforces. In a union workforce, the employer must determine what it has already agreed it will do, the extent of its freedom to address the scenarios created by COVID-19, and the legal framework within which it must act. Below we offer several considerations for employers to adopt.

First, examine the collective bargaining agreement. This will allow you to determine the extent of the company’s freedom to act independently and expeditiously. The place to start is to determine management’s right to schedule work, to idle the plant, to send workers home and to lay-off employees. Determine the restrictions, if any, in these rights, such as call-in pay or weekly guarantees.Continue Reading Managing COVID-19 In A Union Workforce In The US

The Ninth Circuit just reiterated one of the late U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt’s last opinions after the U.S. Supreme Court wiped it out last February. (Decision here.) In February 2019, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded Rizo v. Yovino, which held that employers cannot justify a wage differential between men and women…