Volume 34 I Thursday, October 22, 2020 |
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On August 28, 2020, California revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on activities in each county to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Called “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” the state has created a four-tier, four-color, designation based on a county’s test positivity and case rate.
At a minimum, a county must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving forward. Data is reviewed weekly and tiers are updated on Tuesdays. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier.
You can find the color-coded heat-map of the designation for each county as well as the status of business and other activities by county. Since printing has been designated an essential industry, under the Activity selection on this website, there is no designation for the industry. However, that does not mean the industry is exempt from statewide safety requirements and protocol.
Moreover, localities (counties and cities) may take more restrictive measures and have their own unique standards and paperwork requirements. All business, to be safe, should post the state checklist and any county/locality protocols/checklist required.
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More Firms Urge Workers to Get Seasonal Flu Shots |
Everyone’s worried about COVID-19, especially workers who are back at a physical work site. With the flu season upon us now, the stakes are even higher.
Many employers are considering requiring their staff to get seasonal flu vaccinations this year. Is that a wise move?
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COVID-19 Illness & Workers' Compensation |
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In May 2020, Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order creating a rebuttable presumption that in certain circumstances an employee’s COVID-19 related illness arose out of the course of employment and, as a result, is covered by workers’ compensation benefits. That Executive Order expired on July 6, 2020. |
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California Family Rights Act |
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Beginning next year, 2021, the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) to include businesses with five or more employees. And, even for businesses that are already subject to CFRA, the scope of the leave rights is also larger. The key changes to CFRA, which provides employees with up to 12 weeks of protected, unpaid leave to care for themselves, a family member or to bond with a new child:
- CFRA now applies to private employers with five or more employees;
- To qualify, employees only need to have worked for the employer for a year or more and 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months. There is no longer a requirement that employees work at a location with 50 or more employees within 75 miles radius;
- The definition of a “family member” now includes siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partners and adult children and children of domestic partners;
- Both parents who work for the same employer may take up to 12 weeks to bond with a new child;
- Removes the key employee exception. Employers may not now refuse to reinstate an employee returning from leave if the employee is salaried and amongst its highest paid 10%; and
- Now also allows leave because of a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the Armed Forces of the United States.
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PPP Loan Forgiveness Simplified For Loans Of $50K Or Less |
- For loans of $50,000 or less
- All loans will be forgiven, even if some the original parameters of the loan were unable to be followed, such as:
- The number of full-time equivalents was reduced
- The employees salaries and/or wages were reduced
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FFCRA Documentation Change |
After a NY court said that the FFCRA requirement to give notice of BEFORE taking paid sick leave was not okay. So the rule now is that notice of the need for the FFCRA paid sick leave should be given as soon as practicable. Which means that if someone is sick and doesn’t give notice before needing to take leave, it’s okay as long as they provide the notice as soon as they can do it.
The DOL has also “clarified” that if someone is taking the expanded FMLA, it is typically required to give advance notice if possible, but if the leave has to start immediately without advance notice, then (as with the paid sick leave), the notice should be provided as soon as practicable.
In sum – timing, not documentation – was slightly changed.
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In these unprecedented and uncertain times, PIA San Diego is committed to providing the printing and graphic arts community with the most up-to-date resources on the ongoing COVID-19 situation. |
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