New state leave laws, changing employee expectations and long COVID are driving change when it comes to accommodations. As workers increasingly expect their employers to provide safety nets in supporting their physical and mental health, states are c…
Among the many issues employers are facing in the wake of the spread of COVID-19 is the possibility of furloughs, temporary location closings and short-term layoffs. Not only are these actions devastating and challenging for individuals and teams, th…
On May 12, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the next round of COVID-19 response legislation. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act with over 1,800 pages and a $3 trillion price tag includes labor and em…
On March 18, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed emergency legislation guaranteeing job protection and pay for New Yorkers who have been quarantined as a result of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. The law requires job-protected, employer-provided paid sic…
As we continue to track updates to workforce absence-related laws to support coronavirus (COVID-19) absences, we have created a statutory state chart as a resource to help make sense of the changes. The matrix includes scenarios to identify which ben…
For employers operating in multiple states — and even in single states — it’s become more challenging to effectively manage employee benefits. Many bills have been introduced that have components impacting paid leave benefits, such as cha…
At Sedgwick, our colleagues are dedicated to taking care of our clients and helping them stay informed on key changes and emerging trends in our industry. We recognize that 2018 will be a year of change in a variety of critical business areas. Sed…
Human resources and benefit managers will have excellent opportunities to demonstrate their expertise in 2018. The complexity of issues they address on a daily basis continues to grow and evolve. Federal, state, county and city laws that govern emp…
April the Giraffe has been quite the internet sensation! Some 20 million people around the world have followed her seemingly endless pregnancy since February. Although currently closed for the season, the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New …
Brian Gifford, PhD, Director of Research for IBI, discusses paid parental leave trends. On January 18, I attended the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) Paid Parental Leave and LOA Regional Event in San Jose, California. The topic of the day was th…
A recent ruling by the California Court of Appeal (Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc. (2016) 2 Cal. App. 5th 1028) increases the sphere of influence of the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to include reasonable accommo…
This blog article has been republished as originally run in Human Resource Executive magazine’s November 2015 issue As we talk with employers around the country, we hear many similar concerns. “Managing leave as an accommodation has become challengi…
It’s that time when human resources professionals and legal counsel review employment policies for the upcoming year, and this year there are new challenges impacting family and medical leave. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Obergefell v. …
The United States Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-4 decision that same-sex couples have the right to marry anywhere in the United States. This decision just made life easier for employers and TPAs who are responsible for administering leaves. We can…
On February 25, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued new rules revising the regulatory definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), which entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpa…