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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

The special elections are done in Georgia, the Presidential election has been certified, and we are only a few weeks away from the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President.  Once we clear that final “hurdle” (the inauguration), I would suspect we will start to see Congress introduce labor & employment bills that will work their way through committees and eventually to a debate on the House and Senate floors.  With Congress on the mind, I think it is appropriate to give a nod to the lapsed paid leave and subsequent calls for Congress to step in and take action.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Congress Allows Paid Leave Under FFCRA to Expire...What’s Next?

When Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) back in March, the legislation provided two weeks of paid leave for employees that contracted the coronavirus or were required to quarantine because of possible exposure.  However, the FFCRA only provided this paid leave through December 31, 2020.  While Congress approved a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill at the end of December, this paid leave was not extended into the new year.  It is worth noting that while employers can still voluntarily provide this leave to their employers (and receive a tax credit for doing so), this tax credit option is only available through the end of March.  For those employers that have chosen to take advantage of this tax credit, kudos.  However, I would expect that come April 1st, many if not most employers will no longer offer this leave.  Attention should then turn to Congress and what, if anything, they will do to pass another coronavirus related bill that includes paid leave.  Stay tuned.


Google is Latest Company That Appears Open to Flexible Work Schedules

Deadline wrote an article recently in which it noted that while Google has again pushed back its return to work date (physically present in the workplace that is) for many of its workers, the company has expressed interest in offering a flexible work schedule to its workers.  The specifics of what that would look like remain a bit unclear, but reportedly the company is looking at having employees in the workplace three days a week and then working remotely for the remainder.  Google has noted that it finds allowing its employees to have a flexible work schedule (including the option to work remotely) has actually increased productivity.  Whether the company will proceed with implementing a flexible work schedule for its employees in the coming months remains to be seen...but is something I would expect other tech companies to consider should Google follow through with the plan.

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