Employers are under increasing pressure to provide employees with certain levels of paid and unpaid leave. With over 30 local paid sick leave ordinances and state laws currently in effect and with similar laws being passed every year, employers continue to face mounting compliance hurdles.  We work with employers throughout the U.S. to develop creative solutions that address concerns about employee eligibility, notice requirements, and the simultaneous application of local and state laws. We also help keep our clients in the know by regularly monitoring legislative and regulatory developments regarding paid leave on the federal, state, and local level.

Compliance with paid leave laws is particularly complex for multi-state and nationwide employers.  Many employers with large geographic footprints create multiple paid leave programs to comply with the laws applicable under each state and local jurisdiction where they do business.  Alternatively, some employers provide one very generous paid leave policy that complies with all applicable paid leave laws.  We work with our multi-state clients to understand their specific needs in order to develop and implement unique paid sick leave policies, procedures, and payroll practices that comply with applicable law.  We are also familiar with the creation and administration of paid time off plans that leverage ERISA’s broad preemption provisions to comply with multiple paid sick leave laws at once.

We regularly provide counsel on paid family leave under state insurance laws, state and local laws requiring paid parental leave, unpaid school-related leave laws, and laws providing leave for employees to serve as bone marrow or organ donors.