Question: I have a production employee who says that standing for eight hours a day is causing him pain. He doesn’t want to go on any type of leave and says he’d rather just suffer through it. We are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). What do I do?
The Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) is in the process of rulemaking for Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WPFML). As we previously reported, WPFML provides leave benefits starting in 2020, with tax assessments on employees and employers beginning January 1, 2019. Phase 1 Complete ESD has divided rulemaking into six phases.…
Read More…
Question: We have a non-exempt employee who has a medically certified serious health condition that requires a 10-minute rest break every hour. Our current schedule allows one 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked, so most non-exempt employees only receive two rest breaks each shift and not the eight this employee requires. Do we have to pay the employee for all eight rest breaks?
Read More…
Question: We have a pregnant employee who just notified us she has lifting restrictions for the remainder of her pregnancy. Her current position requires consistently lifting 40 pounds, but she says she can’t lift more than 10 pounds. Can we put her on leave for the rest of her pregnancy?
Read More…
A federal district court in California recently ruled that supervisors can be sued individually for violations of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The ruling means that supervisors could be independently responsible for damages, separate and apart from the employer’s liability. In reaching this decision, the court focused on the…
Read More…
A pilot who would have qualified for a higher pay grade had he not been on military leave should have received a bonus upon his return at the rate for the higher pay grade, ruled the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The pilot (a union member) was selected by his…
Read More…
Effective January 1, 2018, Washington employers are now required to provide mandatory paid sick leave to all employees. The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) recently released the final rules addressing Initiative 1433, which mandates 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, with no cap on accrual or…
Read More…
The Question: We are trying to prepare for the implementation of the Washington paid sick leave going into effect on January 1, 2018. We have locations in Bellevue and Olympia, Washington, as well as in Eugene, Oregon. We front-load our paid time off (PTO) at the beginning of the calendar year and don’t carry over any remaining PTO at the end of the calendar year. We know we are in compliance with Oregon’s paid sick leave. Will our policy also comply with Washington’s new paid sick leave law?
Read More…
Question: We have an employee who took 12 weeks of FMLA leave because of her own serious health condition. Her leave is now expired but she still isn’t able to return to work. Can we terminate her employment since she doesn’t have any FMLA leave left?
Read More…
Q: Is there an exemption from Washington’s paid sick leave law for truck drivers? If not, how do we comply with Washington’s paid leave requirement of providing 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked when we pay our truck drivers in Washington on a cents per mile basis, rather than hourly?
Read More…