By now, public sector employers have navigated the first two weeks of employee eligibility for paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). At the same time, public employers have tried to digest the CARES Act and whether its provisions provide any economic relief. Together, the two laws tell a single story – public sector employers have the same obligations as private sector employers but not the same level of financial support. You are generally on your own to figure out how to manage and pay for your workforce during these unprecedented times. Some aspects of the laws, however, can provide relief valves, provided the appropriate decisions are made and implemented.
Continue Reading The Consolidated Impact of the FFCRA and CARES Act on Public Sector Employers: You’re on Your Own (for the most part)
Langdon Ramsburg
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Supreme Court Rules Fair Share Fees are Unconstitutional
By Langdon Ramsburg, Adam Santucci & Jen Will on
Posted in Labor & Employment, State Government
Last week the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Janus v. AFCSME. It held that requiring public sector employees to pay fair share fees to unions violates the First Amendment. A fair share fee (sometimes called an agency fee) is a fee that non-union members must pay to the union to cover the…
In-Service Pension Distributions Now Simplified in Pennsylvania: Is it Time to Amend Your Pension Plan?
By Langdon Ramsburg on
Posted in Labor & Employment, Municipal Law
As the baby boom generation reaches retirement age, many Pennsylvania municipalities face the potential of substantial knowledge and skill loss. To confront this challenge, municipalities continue look for ways to keep their seasoned employees long enough for knowledge transfer to occur. The problem can be finding sufficient incentives. For these employees, the most important benefit is often their pension. Therefore, municipalities’ ability to entice these employees to stay is often directly linked to pension distributions.
Continue Reading In-Service Pension Distributions Now Simplified in Pennsylvania: Is it Time to Amend Your Pension Plan?
A Tale of Two Cities: The Demise of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and the Durability of Philadelphia’s
Posted in Labor & Employment, Municipal Law
This post was originally featured on the McNees Labor and Employment Blog.
Back in 2015, Pittsburgh enacted a paid sick leave ordinance, following a trend among cities throughout the country. Pittsburgh’s paid sick leave ordinance required employers with fifteen employees or more to provide up to forty hours of paid sick leave per calendar year. Employers with less than fifteen employees were not spared. The ordinance required that those employers provide up to twenty-four hours per calendar year. The impact: 50,000 workers would receive paid sick leave.
But, what authority did Pittsburgh have to impose such a requirement?
Continue Reading A Tale of Two Cities: The Demise of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and the Durability of Philadelphia’s