Employco Blog

President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 includes a national paid family and medical leave program and urges Congressional action on mandatory paid sick leave.

Paid Family and Medical Leave – Biden’s budget would establish a national paid family and medical leave program that would be administered by the Social Security Administration and provide workers with progressive, partial wage replacement to take time off for family and medical reasons. More specifically, the president’s plan would provide up to 12 weeks of leave for eligible workers to:

Employers of all sizes continue to face attraction and retention challenges. Successful efforts to win over workers can require significant time and carry high costs, but failing to attract talent or losing existing employees is particularly costly for small businesses. Unfortunately, small businesses often don’t have the excess resources to invest in attraction and retention efforts in today’s labor market, making it difficult to compete with larger organizations. Along with the costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training, attraction and retention struggles can significantly impact workplace operations and culture, especially in a smaller environment. For these reasons, small businesses cannot afford to ignore their attraction and retention efforts.

An increasing number of employees are recording their termination meetings with HR representatives, managers, and supervisors and posting them on various social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. These videos, commonly called “Watch Me Get Fired” videos, have become a trend among workers in various industries, including fast-food employees, office workers, and teachers. In some cases, these videos have gone viral, exposing businesses to heavy reputational backlash and sometimes legal consequences due to substandard termination practices. Despite the high stakes organizations face, some employers are still mishandling terminations.

District of Columbia Enacts New Wage Transparency Requirements – On Jan. 12, 2024, the District of Columbia (the District) enacted the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023, amending the Wage Transparency Act of 2014. The amended law requires pay and benefits disclosures, prohibits wage history inquiries, and expands employee protections regarding compensation discussions. The amended law takes effect on June 30, 2024, and applies to all nongovernmental employers with at least one employee in the District.

Read more: District of Columbia Legal Update

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new guidance that individuals no longer need to isolate from work for five days following a positive COVID-19 test may raise questions with employers about what leave they are required to provide to employees with the virus.

The revised guidance, issued March 1, 2024, advises that people who are sick with COVID-19 or another respiratory virus stay home and away from others. However, isolation is not necessary if an individual with COVID-19 has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without medication and their symptoms are improving. The guidance states that the period people should stay home and away from others could be shorter, the same, or longer than the previous guidance for COVID-19 isolation. The new guidance is not applicable to healthcare settings, which have their own CDC recommendations.

Responding to an EEOC Charge of Discrimination – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency responsible for enforcing federal employment discrimination laws. It has the authority to investigate and resolve discrimination complaints filed by individuals against employers covered by the laws it enforces. Responding to an EEOC charge of discrimination can be complex and time-consuming, requiring employers to expend valuable resources even when they haven’t violated the law. Given the challenges and risks involved, it’s vital that employers understand how to respond to an EEOC charge effectively.

Access our new checklist here: Responding to an EEOC Charge of Discrimination