Articles

Since the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed into law on March 18, 2020, a number of cities in California have either: (1) clarified employees can use accrued paid sick leave for COVID-19-related reasons or (2) adopted their own ordinances requiring employers exempt from the FFCRA to provide supplemental or additional paid sick leave to employees to use for COVID-19-related reasons. Because many of these ordinances provide protections and leave even beyond that …

Many employers who are experiencing a downturn in business due to COVID-19 need to make difficult financial decisions, including whether to temporarily lay off employees. For example, if a business with 100 employees faces a temporary setback due to COVID-19 and must reduce its payroll by 20 percent, the employer may feel like it has to lay off 20 employees. As an alternative to lay-offs, employers may want to consider reducing employee hours. For example, …

Now that “stay at home” orders are in place in most states, and the federal and many state governments have recommended that employers permit or require employees to work from home whenever possible in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has become the new temporary norm for many employees. Working remotely during a pandemic can be stressful for both employers, which have a need to continue operations, as well as for employees, who …

Effective March 19, 2020, Governor Newsome issued a “Stay-At-Home Order” for the entire state of California (Executive Order N-33-20), that directed all individuals living in California to stay home or at their place of residence, except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal “Critical Infrastructure Sectors” designated by Homeland Security. The Order indicated that Californians working in these Critical Infrastructure Sectors may continue their work because of the importance of these sectors …

On March 25, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which is the third phase of COVID-19 economic relief legislation. The Cares Act is aimed at providing financial stimulus to individuals, businesses and hospitals in response to widespread economic distress caused by the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic in the United States.  The CARES Act is a $2 trillion stimulus package which follows the appropriation of over …