News

As you know from following our alerts and blog (read previous article here) a federal district court recently ruled that portions of the April 2020 regulations from the Department of Labor (DOL) implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) were overly broad and invalid. This ruling left a vacuum with no clear guidance on the state of the law. On Friday, September 11, 2020, the DOL issued new guidance addressing the federal court’s criticisms of the previous rules. The DOL left some rules in place with clarification and additional explanation, and it modified some of the rules, in particular the definition of “healthcare provider.”

Earlier this month, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down the Department of Labor’s (DOL) definition of “health care provider” as promulgated in the regulations implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). See State of New York v. United States Department of Labor. In this case, the State of New York sued the DOL claiming that several provisions of the regulations implementing the FFCRA violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

On Wednesday, Governor Hutchinson announced that Arkansas will submit an application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), paving the way for Arkansans to receive an extra $300 per week in unemployment benefits through the end of the year. The state legislature approved the application on August 18, but it still needs to go through the legislative council for final approval. And FEMA must approve the application before any supplemental benefit payments can be made.

The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) recently announced that it will require a 14-day home quarantine for anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19.

The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (DWS) recently announced that starting June 28, the work-search requirement for unemployment benefits is once again in effect. DWS had waived the requirement in March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the job-search requirement, individuals receiving unemployment benefits must make two to three job contacts each week depending on where in the state they live. The work-search requirement also applies to individuals receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), except for those who are self-employed. Self-employed PUA claimants must be engaged in activities designed to resume their usual self-employment and should enter the number of days each week that they were engaged in activities designed to resume their usual self-employment. Individuals receiving Extended Benefits have enhanced work-search requirements and must make three to four job contacts each week depending on where in the state they live.

Governor Asa Hutchinson issued three Executive Orders on Monday, June 15, 2020, in response to the public health crisis posed by COVID-19. Below is a summary of Executive Order 20-35. The purpose of Executive Order 20-35 is to clarify and provide sufficient recourse under the Workers’ Compensation Law for claims related to COVID-19.

We have found the Shared Work Program to be very beneficial for employers and employees. The program allows employers to reduce hours by 10 to 40 percent. The employee receives part wages from his employer, an amount of state unemployment benefits that corresponds to the reduced hours, and the $600 weekly unemployment benefit through the end of July. As a result in most cases, employees are made whole. At the same time, employers are able to keep their employees close so they can be called back to work full-time when needed. The added bonus for employers is that participation in the Program does not impact their experience ratings.