COVID-19 had an immediate impact on the workplace by shifting employees from the office to the home. Even though active numbers of infections are subsiding, we’re beginning to see the pandemic may have a lasting effect on the workplace and how, where, and when people work. The crisis also has opened up new opportunities for employees to work remotely. With current labor shortages in mind, you may want to revisit your benefit plans and decide whether to expand them in the post-COVID-19 world to retain and attract new talent. Here are some benefits you may be thinking about or may want to consider.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (which has appellate jurisdiction over federal trial courts in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama) recently issued an important decision about when an employee is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, the court looked at whether the Act protects an employee who makes three to five phone calls per week to out-of-state customers and vendors.

On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court rejected the view that premiums for missed meal and rest breaks are paid at the employee’s base hourly rate of pay rather than the “regular rate of pay” used to calculate overtime premiums. Like the calculation of overtime pay, the calculation of premium pay for noncompliant meal and rest periods must account for base hourly wages as well as all other nondiscretionary payments.

We have an employee who is going on Medicare and plans to continue covering her husband on COBRA until he is 65. Can she pay for his premiums on a pretax basis through payroll, or does she have to pay with after-tax dollars?

Everywhere we turn, store fronts and restaurants are posting signs seeking applicants for vacant positions. And the phenomenon isn’t limited to just the service industry. Employers in the transportation, logistics, and manufacturing sectors are just as desperate for applicants. One suddenly hot recruiting tool is paying signing bonuses to new employees. But there are some factors you need to consider before offering the bonuses.

On July 8, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three bills into law raising the stakes for employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors. With the changes, businesses operating in the state and misclassifying employees can expect to pay stiffer fines and face legal enforcement actions that didn’t previously exist.

Governor Jay Inslee recently signed the Washington Wage Recovery Act (WRA) allowing employees to place a lien on their employers’ property to secure unpaid wages. You should become familiar with the new statute before it goes into effect on January 1, 2022.