23 April HR Headlines: April 2021

What should HR keep an eye on for April 2021? Check out our round-up of the news that impacts HR directly.

Biden Urges Businesses to Offer PTO for Vaccination

On Wednesday, April 21, President Biden called on businesses to offer paid time off to employees for their time receiving or recovering from COVID-19 vaccinations.

"No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated," Biden said.

Tax Credit for SMBs: Employers with 500 employees or fewer will be able to redeem a tax credit to cover the costs of offering the benefit. The tax credit will offset the costs of PTO for each employee "for up to 80 hours (i.e. 10 work days) up to $511 per day of paid sick leave offered between April 1 and September 30, 2021." Learn more from this White House Fact Sheet.

• This month, the IRS released a fact sheet to educate employers on how to claim this paid-sick-leave credit on their quarterly tax filings. Read more from the IRS here. 

Additionally, President Biden asked employers of all sizes to further vaccination efforts within their organizations and communities. He encouraged companies to offer discounts to vaccinated individuals, host product giveaways, and put up in-store messaging.

New Right-of-Recall Bill Requires California Hospitality Employers to Track COVID-19 Layoffs Until 2025

On Friday, April 19, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a statewide right of recall, affecting employees in certain industries who were laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects. 

SB-93, which enacts Labor Code Section 2810.8 effective immediately, primarily impacts hospitality employers in California, as well as a few other industries. Namely, those industries are:

• Hotel Employer
• Event Center Employer
• Airport Service Provider
• Airport Hospitality Employer
• Private Club Employer
• Commercial Property Building Service Employer

Compliance is critical - the new law will remain in place until December 31, 2024, and contains some potentially devastating consequences for violations. 

How do these laws apply? 

• The ordinance only applies to "laid-off workers," per their definition
• Within five business days of establishing an open position, an employer must offer its "laid-off workers" any open positions that are available for which the worker is qualified. 
• If more than one laid-off worker is entitled to recall for the same position, the employer must first offer the position to the laid-off worker with the greatest length of service.
• Lastly, an employer that declines to recall a laid-off worker on the grounds of lack of qualifications and instead hires someone else shall provide the laid-off employee a written notice within 30 days which includes all of the reasons not to recall the laid-off worker, including the length of service of those employees who were recalled and hired.

Click here to read more, including specific definitions, from Fisher Phillips.

ICE Extends Virtual Form I-9 Review Until May 31

On April 5, an interim policy allowing virtual document-inspection methods for Form I-9 was extended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until May 31. 

This policy has been extended several times since it was first issued in March 2020. It initially applied only to employers and workplaces that were operating completely remotely, but now offers more flexibility for companies that are bringing employees back to the office. 

COVID-19 PPE is now HSA and FSA Eligible

At the end of March, the IRS quietly announced that PPE used for "the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19”—including face masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and sanitizing wipes—can be treated as medical expenses.

This means that employers can let employees know they can use their health savings account (HSA) and/or flexible savings account (FSA) to purchase face masks and other personal protective equipment used to prevent COVID-19. 

The new amendment from the agency also allows FSA and HSA providers to retroactively allow for any claims for COVID-19 protective gear purchased after January 2020 and until December 2022 to be paid out or reimbursed. 

Read more from HR Executive Here.

President Biden Announced American Jobs Plan

On March 31, President Biden released the American Jobs Plan, a blueprint for a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. 

This plan calls for strengthening unions, job training, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. According to DOL Secretary Marty Walsh, this plan would be "a historic investment in the working people of America." "This plan is what building back better looks like—21st-century infrastructure, including rail, roads, bridges and broadband; clean energy and drinking water for healthy communities; expanded job training and apprenticeships, so workers can take control of their futures; research and development to grow manufacturing jobs; investment in the essential care professions that our families and communities depend on; and equity for historically marginalized communities, so nobody gets left out."

There are a number of ways the American Jobs Plan would affect the workplace, including:

• The PRO Act, which would change state right-to-work laws to allow unions to require workers at unionized companies to pay dues. And, the act would expand the definition of "employee" and limit the concept of an independent contractor. 
• Union Neutrality, which would require companies that hold federal contracts to remain neutral during union organizing.
• Several Employment-Related Proposals, including calls for larger penalties for employers that violate workplace safety and health rules, and demands that employers benefitting from the plan's infrastructure investments follow strong labor standards. 

Click here to read more from SHRM.