If 2020 was a year full of twists and hairpin turns, 2021 is proving to be a worthy successor — at least when it comes to paid leave.

There are a lot of news articles out there but I thought a quick recap of where we are (and where we are expecting to go) would

Thanksgiving is now in the rear view mirror. Just a month to go until we turn the page to 2021.

But before that happens, there are a few things left to check off your to do list for 2020.

Let’s get to it.

  1. Register for Paid Leave Program – Conneticut requires every employer to register

It’s supposed to snow Friday here in Connecticut.

In October.

For those of us with memories, we all remember the last time we got substantial snowfall in October in 2011. It ended with lots of power outages and many downed trees. So let’s first hope the snow is just more nuisance than anything else.

Far

You may recall a few weeks back that a federal court struck down portions of the USDOL regulations interpreting the Famlies First Coronavirus Response Act.

The open question at the time: What would the DOL do?

Late Friday, we got our answer — revised regulations designed to overcome the judicial concerns or, challenge the

Conneticut’s Travel Advisory Quarantine has been among the most confusing of the orders to arise from the pandemic.  No doubt that it was not intended to be that complicated.

But the last few weeks have had change after change made to the rules.  And then came the announcement last week that Rhode Island was on

What a mess.

And I’m not just talking about the cleanup from Tropical Storm Isaias. Hasn’t been much fun without power, internet or reliable cell service.  (I hope everyone is staying safe and gets power soon — my town’s projection was 5-7 days!)

Heck, it’s been tough to even do a blog post about a

We made it halfway through 2020.

I know it FEELS as if it should be December, but just think how long March was!

A lot has changed since the start of the pandemic.  But over the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing from employers wondering where things stand right now. What’s changed? What still

As employers start to return employees to the physical workplace, new issues keep arising daily.  Here’s a common scenario:

Employee X has been on furlough since late March and collecting more on unemployment than if he had been employed, thanks to the extra $600 weekly payment.

Employer now asks Employee to return to work.  Although

The United States Department of Labor recently updated its guidance on the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (FMLA+).

My colleagues at Shipman & Goodwin recapped the new guidance here.

One of the key takeaways from is that under the USDOL’s prior guidance and regulations, it

This pandemic is exhausting.

There’s obviously the personal: The “work from home” novelty has worn off and now comes to tough part of trying to find the boundaries of work and home.  Each day feels like it is 16 hours long (maybe because it is sometimes).

Then there’s the professional: We’ve continued to see clients