Management Update

New "Stimulus Bill" Does Not Extend FFCRA

By: Jerry L. Stovall, Jr.

On December 27, President Trump signed the "Stimulus Bill" which is intended to provide additional relief from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and to keep the government operating. This Bill, now law, does not continue the mandatory paid leave provided by the Families First Coronavirus Protection Act, which expires on December 31, 2020. Oddly, Section 286 of the Stimulus Bill extends the payroll tax credit for paid sick leave and paid family leave for employers who voluntarily provide the paid leave through March 31, 2021. It does not appear as if this extension of the federal tax credit was intended to provide additional paid leave to those employees who have already exhausted their allotment.

Of course, President-elect Biden and the new Congress might agree to extend the protections of the FFCRA once they take office on January 20, 2021.

Stay tuned.......

Supreme Court Won't Take Up Transgender Bathroom Case

In early December, The U.S. Supreme Court preserved an Oregon public school district’s policy of accommodating transgender students, rejecting an appeal challenging a policy that let students use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity.

The justices left in place a lower court ruling that threw out a lawsuit against Dallas School District in Oregon spearheaded by a small group of parents. The plaintiffs had argued that the policy violated students’ rights to privacy and religious freedom under the U.S. Constitution as well as a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

The use of gender-specific facilities such as bathrooms by transgender people in schools and beyond continues to be litigated around the United States.

U.S. Wage and Hour Division Issues Two New Opinion Letters

By: Jerry L. Stovall, Jr.

On November 30, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor issued two new Opinion Letters dealing with two rather uncommon Fair Labor Standard Act situations.

FLSA2020-17: Calculation of piece-rate regular rate of pay. Addresses the proper method to be used to calculate the regular rate of pay of an employee paid on a piece-rate basis in the absence of a specific agreement with the employee to use such method. (As an aside, always commit the use of this method to writing.)

FLSA2020-18: Does insect farming equal agriculture. Addresses whether insect farming qualifies as "agriculture" under the FLSA and whether certain workers employed by an insect farming operation may be exempt from overtime pay requirements under Section 13(b)(12).

You can read the full Opinion Letters here https//www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/2020_11_30_17_FLSA.pdf and here https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/2020_11_30_18_FLSA.pdf if either situation applies to you.