The EEOC’s new FAQs clarify, among other things, that employers may:

• Require employees who will be physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated, as long as certain requirements are met;
• Offer to provide vaccinations to employees on a voluntary basis;
• Offer incentives for employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, as long as the incentives are not coercive;
• Offer to provide vaccinations to employees’ family members on a voluntary basis (but may not require or provide incentives for family members’ vaccinations).

Mandatory Vaccines and Reasonable Accommodations

Employers with mandatory vaccination programs must provide reasonable accommodations for individuals who refuse the vaccine due to disability, pregnancy or religion.

Click here to view and download the latest HR Compliance Bulletin

Highlights

Serious Medical Condition
Employees may be entitled to leave for their own or a family member’s COVID-19 illness if it constitutes a “serious medical condition” under the FMLA.

FFCRA Leave Enforcement
The DOL will enforce the FFCRA for leave taken or requested between April 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020.

Extension of FFCRA Tax Credits
The American Rescue Plan Act extended tax credits for employers who voluntarily provide FFCRA leave through Sept. 30, 2021.

Child Care Leave
Federal law does not mandate leave to care for a healthy child. The FFCRA required leave for certain COVID-19-related child care through Dec. 30, 2021.
Testing Before Returning to Work Employers may require a COVID-19 test before employees return to work from FMLA leave if it is nondiscriminatory.

Click here to view and download the latest HR Compliance Bulletin

On May 10, 2021, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2021-25 to provide the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2022. The IRS is required to publish these limits by June 1 of each year.

Highlights:

Each year, the IRS announces inflation-adjusted limits for HSAs and HDHPs.
• By law, the IRS is required to announce these limits by June 1 of each year.
• The adjusted contribution limits for HSAs take effect as of Jan. 1, 2022.
• The adjusted HDHP cost-sharing limits take effect for the plan year beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2022.

Employers that sponsor HDHPs should review their plan’s cost-sharing limits (minimum deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket expense limit) when preparing for the plan year beginning in 2022. Also, employers that allow employees to make pre-tax HSA contributions should update their plan communications for the increased contribution limits.

Click here to view and download the latest HR Compliance Bulletin

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted March 11, 2021, includes changes to emergency paid sick leave and paid family leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The ARPA extended tax credits through Sept. 30, 2021, for employers that continue to provide FFCRA leave voluntarily (beyond the Dec. 31, 2020, expiration date) and made changes to tax credit eligibility for both types of FFCRA leave.

Highlights:

FFCRA Leave Remains Voluntary
ARPA did not reinstate the FFCRA employee leave mandates.

Tax Credit Extension
Employer tax credits are extended through Sept. 30, 2021, for wages, health plan expenses and Medicare tax for FFCRA leave provided voluntarily.

FFCRA Paid Leave
The FFCRA employer tax credits apply to 80 new hours of paid sick leave per employee, 12 weeks of paid family leave, and to leave for new reasons.

Click here to view and download the FFCRA ARPA HR Compliance Bulletin

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law March 11, 2021, provides a 100% subsidy of premiums for employer-sponsored group health insurance continued under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA) and similar state continuation of coverage (mini-COBRA) programs.

COBRA requires group health plans to allow covered employees and their dependents to continue their group health plan coverage when it would be lost due to specific events, such as a termination of employment or reduction in working hours. Individuals are usually allowed to continue their COBRA coverage for 18 months, although some similar state mini-COBRA laws mandate a longer coverage period.

Under COBRA, group health plans may require those covered to pay 102% of the premium for their continuing health insurance, leading many eligible individuals to decline coverage. The ARPA subsidy covers the full cost of COBRA or mini-COBRA premiums from April 1 – Sept. 30, 2021, for “assistance-eligible individuals.”

Click here to view and download the COBRA ARPA HR Compliance Bulletin

The current federal minimum wage rate is $7.25 per hour. However, many states have adopted minimum wage rates higher than the federal rate. When the state rate and the federal rate are different, employers must pay their employees the higher rate.

Click here to view and download a high-level summary of minimum wage rates by state and important provisions that regulate how these rates apply — our latest HR Compliance Bulletin

Employers that received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness should review these FAQs carefully as they submit their applications for forgiveness of these loans. PPP loans will be fully forgiven if the funds were used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.

Click here to view and download our latest HR Compliance Bulletin

 EEOC Updates Employer Guidance on Coronavirus and the ADA 

 ADA Rules Still Apply But Do Not Prevent Safety Measures 

Employers must follow ADA rules while observing emergency guidelines issued by federal, state and local health authorities during the pandemic. 

Employer Guidance 

The EEOC’s pandemic guidance clarifies that employers may: 

 Ask employees if they have COVID-19 symptoms; 

 Require employees to stay home (and to provide medical notes before returning to work) if they have COVID-19 symptoms; and 

 Screen applicants for COVID-19 symptoms after making conditional job offers. 

Click here to view and download the June Compliance Bulletin.

 OSHA FAQs: Face Masks and Respirators in the Workplace 

 Cloth face coverings are not considered PPE and employers are not required to provide them. 

 OSHA generally recommends that employers encourage workers to wear face coverings at work. 

 Cloth face coverings are not a substitute for social distancing measures. 

 OSHA suggests following CDC recommendations, and always washing or discarding cloth face coverings that are visibly soiled. 

 Employers must not use surgical masks or cloth face coverings when respirators are needed. 

Click here to view and download the June Compliance Bulletin.

 The U.S. Department of Labor has issued Q&As on the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and COVID-19 (the disease caused by the new coronavirus) and other health emergencies. The Q&As explain that under the FMLA, covered employers must provide eligible employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons, which may include the flu where complications arise. Employees on FMLA leave are entitled to the continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms as before they took leave. 

View and download this HR Compliance Bulletin