My grandmother used to say that one of the biggest lies told in America was the statement: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help”. Grandma was a bit of a pessimist. But the Department of Labor has issued, and continues to add segments to, a very helpful and rather lengthy question and answer page that provides guidance for employers on implementing the paid sick and family leave requirements under the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act, set to take effect on April 1, 2020. This information is particularly useful in light of the fact that the DOL has not yet provided clarifying regulations as required under the FFCRA.  Questions regarding documenting leaves, intermittent leaves, required records, calculating amounts due, and telework issues are all addressed in a straight-forward manner.  Maybe Grandma wasn’t always right after all. 

Click here for the DOL's Question and Answer page. 

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked. So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again. This is commentary, people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing. No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits). But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you. And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry). Big news: Copyright 2020. All rights reserved; yep, all of them.

If you have any questions about this article, contact the writer directly, assuming he or she was brave enough to attach their name to it. If you have any questions regarding this blog or your life in general, contact Kelly O. Scott, Esq., commander in chief of this blog and Head Honcho (official legal title) of ECJ’s Employment Law Department.