Human Resources Blog

Today, the Louisiana Governor announced the state is moving to Phase 3; however, Mayor LaToya Cantrell followed that press conference declaring that New Orleans will remain in Phase 2 for the foreseeable future. The state’s numbers have been moving in the right direction, but with so many evacuees still sheltering in town from Hurricane Laura, the city, unfortunately, cannot afford to take that risk. Hopefully, once the rest of the state reveals a successful transition into the next phase, there will be more confidence to loosen restrictions for our beloved hospitality industry.

To follow up on yesterday’s news about the federal court judge in New York invalidating the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Final Rule published at the start of this year, this pertains to the four-part test as it applies to vertical joint employment. Employers can rely on the FLSA’s good faith exception if they followed the Final Rule for joint employment decisions prior to September 8, 2020.

In election news, both presidential candidates have proclaimed that they support paid-leave proposals—which would be a first of their kind in federal legislation—though the paths each would take to create paid leave are widely different. Accordingly, last December, Trump signed into law a measure that makes federal employees eligible for paid parental leave effective October 1, 2020. The two parties disagree in funding, with employer contributions under the FAMILY Act being the main controversy.

SHRM released three more COVID-19 legal questions that you should answer, covering policies on remote employee reimbursement, how to handle on-site employees with high-risk family members in the household, and managing complaints when some workers are allowed to work from home due to a disability. Please review and let us know if you’d like Delta to walk you through some of these concerns.

We are excited to announce that these COVID-19 updates will be taking virtual form with the launch of our “Dialed in with Delta” webinar series, where we will be featuring interviews with prominent community figures and experts in their field about prevalent public matters and HR-related concerns. The vlog will be kicking off next week with the first episode centering on the start of the school year as businesses face questions from employees on accommodation and safety guidelines amid the varying learning formats. Stay tuned for more info and link to register as we finalize everything with our panelists.