State Updates
Colorado
Colorado recently announced the new State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) of $1,471.34, which the CO Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program uses in part to calculate a claimant’s weekly benefit amount. This updated SAWW comes with two changes to keep in mind. Firstly, the program’s updated maximum weekly benefit amount of $1,324.21 will not go into effect until January 1, 2025. This update is an increase from the current maximum of $1,100. Secondly, the SAWW will be considered effective July 1, 2024, and will immediately be used to recalculate the benefits of any claimants not receiving the current maximum of $1,100 a week. Employees receiving less than the current maximum will soon receive a notification through their My FAMLI+ account of their redetermined weekly benefit amount.
Maryland
The Maryland Department of Labor is hosting a FAMLI 101 Webinar on July 24, 2024 from 2-3:30pm EST. You can register here. They will be hosting future webinars if you are unable to make this one.
New Hampshire
Effective August 13, 2024, employers will be prohibited from discharging an employee who is a volunteer member of a fire or ambulance department whose failure to report for work was due to the employee responding to an emergency they witness or come upon while en route to a place of employment. “Volunteer member” means a volunteer, call, reserve, or permanent-intermittent firefighter or emergency medical technician – not included is anyone who has received compensation for over 975 hours of services rendered over the preceding 6-month period. You can read the bill here.
New York
As previously mentioned here, as of June 19, 2024, employers in New York are required to provide all employees with the right to paid break time to express breast milk in the workplace. The state’s Department of Labor has published a policy that employers must provide to all employees as well as two fact sheets:
Your Rights as an Employee to Express Breast Milk at Work
Rights of Nursing Employees to Pump Breast Milk at Work – Information for Employers
If you have questions, there are also FAQs for workers and employers.
Oregon
Paid Leave Oregon announced the new maximum weekly benefit amounts for Paid Leave for 2024-2025. Beginning July 7, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the maximum weekly benefit amount an employee can receive will increase from $1,523.63 to $1,568.60. This update will only affect claims with a benefit year that begins on July 7, 2024 or after, so any claims with a benefit year beginning prior to that date will be unaffected.
Rhode Island
Signed into law by Governor McKee on June 25, 2024, H 7171 makes enhancements to the state’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) program. Currently, employees can receive up to six weeks of TCI benefits for bonding with a new child (of the employee or domestic partner) or caring for a family member (child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, spouse, or domestic partner). As of January 1, 2025, employees will be able to receive up to seven weeks of TCI benefits in a benefit year. Then, as of January 1, 2026, employees will be able to receive up to eight weeks of TCI benefits in a benefit year.
Vermont
As a friendly reminder, Vermont’s voluntary Family and Medical Leave Insurance program is now available for public and private employers with two or more employees in the state as of July 1, 2024. Employers may enroll at any time, however, employees will not have the option to enroll in the Individual Plan until July 1, 2025.
Washington
The Employment Security Department (ESD) has updated their Benefit Guide to reflect recent changes and it’s available in English and Spanish.
Canada Updates
Employment Insurance (EI)
We previously covered Bill C-59 and we are happy to announce that the bill has received royal assent as of June 20, 2024. While the changes to EI do not yet have a fixed effective date, this additional EI benefit is a great development for parents who adopt. The bill has not changed since we last reported on it, so feel free to refresh your memory with our previous newsletter in the meantime. We will be sure to notify you as soon as an order from the Governor in Council fixes a day for this change to come into force.
Federal Employers – Canada Labour Code (CLC)
There are two recent updates to the Canada Labour Code thanks to both Bill C-58 and Bill C-59 receiving royal assent as of June 20, 2024.
Regarding the Bill C-58 changes, an employer is prohibited, with certain exceptions, from the use of replacement workers upon notice to collectively bargain, and if a bargaining unit is on a legal strike or lockout. In addition, there are now added requirements relating to a maintenance of activities agreement, that allows an employer or trade union to advise the other party about what supply of services, operation of facilities, or production of goods it believes should continue during a strike or lockout within 15 days of a notice to bargain collectively. If this bill pertains to you as a federal employer, ensure you are aware of these changes coming in effect June 20, 2025.
The updates to the CLC from Bill C-59 include two new leaves of absence as well as minor changes to the notification requirements of bereavement leave. The bereavement leave notice requirements and new pregnancy loss leave changes will come into force on the 540th day after the day the Act received royal assent (we’re estimating December 13, 2025), or on an earlier day as fixed by order of the Governor in Council. The new leave for the placement of a child will come into force on a day that will also be fixed by order, so at least for this leave, there is not yet a fixed effective date. Regardless, we will notify you of when such a date exists. If you’d like to recall the specific details of these changes, we welcome you to refer back to our previous newsletter where we laid out all the pertinent information.
