First we have over 700,000 ACA customers claiming tax credits for buying coverage but, according to the Finance Committee Chairman, “didn’t bother to file their taxes” and thus potentially burned the US government for $2 billion in bogus payments. Then again, there were over 300,000 that overpaid an average of $110 on their 2014 tax return. Giveth, taketh…but what was the number supposed to be and who is doing the counting?
Family Rights…what is right and what did they write and what is left?
A quick summary of what you need to know if you have 50 or more employees:
- Must display a new poster regarding The Family Care and Medical Leave (CFRA)
- Must also display a new poster regarding the Pregnancy Disability Leave
- Time spent on pregnancy disability leave does NOT count toward the 12 weeks of insurance coverage an employee is separately entitled to under the CFRA for taking leave to bond with a new baby – thus an employer may be required to provide as much as 29 1/3 weeks of continued group health coverage
- Employers now have only five business days to respond to CFRA leave requests (was 10)
- Employers may require employees to use accrued vacation or PTO during otherwise unpaid portions of CFRA leaves
- An employer must limit leave increments to the shortest period of time that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of leave provided it is not greater than one hour
- When the nature of the employee’s job makes it physically impossible to take intermittent leave during the middle of the employee’s shift, the employee shall be permitted to return to work if he or she is able to perform other aspects of the work that are not physically impossible, such as administrative duties
- Employee expansion – under FMLA and CFRA an eligible employee had to work for an employer with at least 50 part or full time employees within 75 miles of the worksite. Under new regulations, California based employees without a fixed worksite location to commute to work may now be protected by the CFRA. Thus telecommuters and salespeople who are attached to the Home Office but are remote should now be covered by the CFRA
Reinstatement Rights: employers are now expressly required to reinstate an employee returning from CFRA leave regardless of whether or not his/her position was replaced or restructured to accommodate the employee’s absence.