Jennifer Myers Chalal has been named as one of the Pennsylvania & Delaware Super Lawyers Top 50 Women of 2020. Ms. Chalal is an attorney in Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci’s Employment Law Group. She concentrates her practice in the area of employment law handling all types of employment law matters including discrimination claims under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the PHRA, and the NJ Law Against Discrimination, retaliation claims, wrongful discharge claims, wage and hour claims, FMLA claims, ERISA claims, breach of contract claims, non-compete claims, and claims involving workplace torts. She also handles ADA accessibility suits and denials of public accommodations for businesses especially in the hospitality industry.  She provides advice to businesses regarding employment matters, conducts workplace investigations for businesses presented with complaints of sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination, prepares employment handbooks, and provides workplace seminars regarding discrimination laws. Her litigation practice extends throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey in both Federal and State Court.

Ms. Chalal received a J.D. with honors from Temple University School of Law. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Hofstra University where she received a B.A. degree (magna cum laude) with High Honors in Speech Communication. Following graduation from Temple University School of Law, she served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Sandra Mazer Moss of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Ms. Chalal is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and the Temple American Inn of Courts. She also was an Executive Committee Member of the Young Lawyers Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country. Super Lawyers Magazines also feature editorial profiles of attorneys who embody excellence in their practice of law. For more information about Super Lawyers, go to SuperLawyers.com.

Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci P.C. has represented clients nationally and internationally for nearly 50 years and provides counsel and expertise across the entire spectrum of legal practice, from complex litigation to sophisticated transactional and corporate matters. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Florida, and New York.

The firm represents businesses, corporate boards, and highly placed individuals. Its clients are engaged in a variety of industries including finance and banking, manufacturing, hospitality, gaming and entertainment, real estate and commercial development, insurance and venture capital, energy, financial services, health care, security and telecommunications.

The firm’s practice areas include high stakes litigation, business disputes, commercial litigation, professional liability, products liability, securities, trust and estates, fiduciary litigation, bankruptcy and creditors rights, civil RICO, trade secrets, trademark and restrictive covenants, intellectual property, antitrust, white-collar criminal defense, banking and financial services, corporate formation and governance, employment, entertainment and amusements, environment and energy, wealth management, healthcare, hospitality, insurance coverage and insured casualty litigation, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, real estate, sports and tax law.

A small business with under fifty (50) employees may be entitled to an exemption from the requirement under the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) that employees with under five hundred (500) employees provide (1) Extended Family Leave to eligible employees or (2) Emergency Paid Sick Leave when the leave is requested by an employee to care for a child due to school or child care closures or childcare unavailability as a result COVID related reasons. There can be NO exemption from providing Emergency Paid Sick Leave if the leave is requested for any of the other 5 delineated reasons that qualify an employee to take paid sick leave under the FFCRA. In other words, the exemption can only be taken with regard to providing: (1) Extended Family Leave due to school or child care closures or childcare unavailability as a result of COVID related reasons or (2) Emergency Paid Sick Leave as result of need to care for child due to school or child care closures or childcare unavailability as a result COVID related reasons.

To qualify for the exemption, an officer of the business must make a determination on a case by case basis to see if there are grounds for the exemption and then document the reason for the exemption if it denies the request on that basis. The Small Business Exemption is not a blanket exemption and each request should be separately evaluated.  An employer is not required to send a letter to the DOL requesting an exemption.

In assessing whether an exemption applies to a particular situation, an authorized officer of the business would need to determine that providing the requested leave to the requesting employee would jeopardize the viability of the business based on one (or more) of the following three reasons:

1. Providing the requested leave would result in the expenses and financial obligations of the business exceeding available business revenues and cause the small business to cease operating a minimal capacity (i.e.: business can’t afford to pay for the covered leave);

2. The absence of the employee requesting the leave would entail a substantial risk to the financial health or operational capabilities of the small business because of the employee’s specialized knowledge of the business, skills or responsibilities  (i.e.: the employee requesting leave is one of the only that performs a specialized job function); and/or

3. There are not sufficient workers who are able, willing and qualified and who will be available at the time and place needed, to perform the labor or services provided by the employee requesting the paid leave and these services or labor are needed for the small business to operate at minimal capacity (i.e.: the employer will not be able to operate if the employee is on leave)

The reason for claiming the exemption and not granting the leave should be set forth in writing by an authorized officer of the employer and maintained in the employee’s file for four (4) years.  Likewise, if leave is granted, there should be documentation of the reason for the leave and maintained for (4) years.

If you have any questions regarding the foregoing, please contact Jennifer Chalal at jchalal@sgrvlaw.com.

New Jersey is one of only six states that offer certain employees paid family leave which is funded through payroll deductions.  On February 19, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation that expands the benefits under the Paid Family Leave Law and Temporary Disability program in New Jersey.

First, as of June 30, 2019, the amended law expands the scope of employees eligible for family leave insurance to include employees who work for employers with 30 or more employees.  Prior to the new legislation, coverage was limited to employees of employers with 50 or more workers.

Second, the law expands the permissible reasons that an employee will be entitled to paid family leave insurance.  Under the new law, the definition of “family member” has been expanded to include grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, adult children, in-laws, domestic partners, and individuals having a close relationship with the employee that is the equivalent of a family relationship.  The amended law also permits coverage to bond with a child resulting from foster care placement, surrogacy, or through a gestational carrier agreement.  In addition, coverage is also provided to victims of domestic and sexual violence and to those caring for family members who are dealing with issues related to domestic or sexual assault.

Third, paid family leave has been increased from 6 weeks to 12 weeks beginning on July 1, 2020.  Intermittent leave will also increase from 42 to 56 days.

Fourth, the requisite waiting period before entitlement to family leave insurance payments begins has been eliminated.  Starting July 1, 2020, benefits will be payable to the employee on the first day of leave.  While employees may have the option to use either paid time off before using family leave benefits, employers can no longer require that employees use all of their paid leave before the payment of benefits.

Fifth, effective July 1, 2020, the weekly benefit to employees has been increased to 85% of an individual’s weekly wage, capped at 70% of the state’s average weekly wage so that eligible employees can receive up to a maximum payout of $860 per week.  Prior to this increase, employees were only entitled to receive two-thirds of their pay up to a maximum of $650 per week. This expanded benefit also increases the amount that all eligible employees will have to pay to fund the program.

Sixth and last, effective June 30, 2019, the amended law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who request and/or take paid family leave.  The law also prohibits employers from refusing to restore the employee to his or her job on the basis that the employees requested or took family leave benefits.  Employers who fail to provide notifications and disclosures will be subject to fines up to $1000 may be imprisoned for up to 90 days.  Employers who violate the anti-retaliation provisions will be subject to fines up to $2000 for first-time violations and thereafter $5000 for each violation.  The anti-retaliation provision and fines also imply to employees eligible for paid temporary disability leave.

Companies that employ between 30 and 50 employees should prepare to implement these changes.  If you require assistance regarding compliance with the New Jersey Paid Family Leave Insurance Law or have any questions regarding these changes, please contact Jennifer Myers Chalal at jchalal@lawsgr.com or (215) 241-8817.