Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday, August 7 that New York State schools can open in the Fall. The Governor gives school districts the decision-making authority as to how they will reopen—whether that be in person, remote, or a hybrid model of instruction. Additionally, school districts must:• Comply with the Department of Health guidelines;• Post their remote learning and testing and tracing plans online;• Have 3 to 5 public meetings prior to August 21 with parents [...]

In State of New York v Department of Labor et al., Judge J. Paul Oetken, a Federal Court judge in the Southern District of New York, set aside portions of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulations implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The provisions invalidated by this decision are noted below.1. Work AvailabilityThe decision invalidated the DOL’s “work-availability” requirement. The “work-availability” requirement excludes [...]

The Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) recently issued Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) to address a variety of topics pertaining to PPP Loan Forgiveness.  The FAQs cover: General Loan Forgiveness Loan Forgiveness of Payroll Costs Loan Forgiveness of Non-Payroll Costs The FAQs can be located here:  https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP--Loan-Forgiveness-FAQs.pdf The Attorneys at Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP are available to [...]

In light of COVID-19, many local school districts have published their preliminary reopening plans for the 2020-2021 academic year. Many of these plans implement hybrid instruction, allowing for in-person and remote learning. If children are required to engage in remote learning during all or part of the school week, this may result in employee requests for leave pursuant to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). We revisit key provisions of the FFCRA, as applied to school or child [...]

US DOL has updated its guidance concerning telework compensation and exemption status under the FLSA (Questions 14-19):• A teleworking employee must be paid for all hours of telework actually performed. Work performed at home is treated the same as work performed at the worksite for purposes of compensability.• Where an employee is teleworking with flexible hours, the FLSA does not require compensation for all hours between starting work and finishing work, but the employee must be [...]