More and more jurisdictions are passing laws requiring employers to provide paid leave to employees, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend. When new laws are enacted, employers often have questions about the impact on their existing policies. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions on paid sick leave, vacation, and paid time off.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued new guidance to help employers and employees identify risks of being exposed to and/or contracting COVID-19 at work.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has published a final rule revising its tipped employee regulations. The final rule was scheduled to take effect March 1, 2021, but the DOL has since pushed back the effective date to April 30, 2021.

Your company's culture—the shared values and beliefs that are reflected through policies, practices, and interactions—can be critical to attracting, motivating, and retaining employees. This can be especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic and when facing other challenges. Here are seven key areas where you can help foster a positive culture at your company.

Over the years, employees have filed complaints alleging their employers violated existing nondiscrimination laws by prohibiting them from wearing certain hairstyles. Courts have generally been split on whether restricting certain hairstyles violates laws prohibiting racial discrimination. In response to these cases, several jurisdictions have passed laws that expressly prohibit hairstyle discrimination. Below is a list of locations where these laws have been enacted along with guidelines for workplace grooming and appearance standards.

When an employee is injured in the workplace it can negatively affect many aspects of your business. There are the direct costs of workers’ compensation, damage to equipment and product, and lost productivity. There are also much larger indirect costs including time required to hire and train a new employee, reduced employee morale, and potential negative public relations.

Embracing diversity is a cornerstone of success, leading us to explore how different opinions, perspectives and points of view shape our business. Recently, we asked you to join us on a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey through a valuable Speaker Series (which you can watch here) and are now excited to announce our latest resource: The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit. This toolkit is designed to provide you guidance for diversity awareness, overlay tools to evaluate your organizational strategy and connect you to trusted resources in order to support advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at your company. Reach out to your HR Business Partner for a copy or to have more in-depth discussions on building a diverse and inclusive culture. 

In an effort to help create these opportunities, ADP® is offering the Compass Leadership Development Tool to you FREE for three months. This tool will help leaders connect with their teams, gain a better understanding of their needs and use those insights to improve their skills, all while producing measurable results.  

A January 20, 2021 memorandum was signed by President Biden requesting that the suspension of student loans extend past 01/31/2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  To extend relief during these unprecedented times, The Department of Education (DOE) Office of Federal Student Aid has confirmed the suspension of student loan payments until September 30, 2021.  For more details, please refer to the Student Aid site.