On March 25, 2021, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker vetoed a bill that would assess prejudgment interest to personal injury and wrongful death verdicts. The bill originally was reported as House Bill 3360 (“H.B. 3360”) and more recently passed the Legislature as a compromised plan, S.B. 72, which reduced the prejudgment rate from 9% to 6 %, allowing plaintiffs with personal injury or wrongful death verdicts to recover the interest on all damages except punitive damages, sanctions, statutory attorneys’ fees, and statutory costs. On January 13, 2021, H.B. 3360 passed the Democrat-controlled chambers of the General Assembly. H.B. 3360 provided 9% prejudgment interest to personal injury and wrongful death verdicts to be calculated annually from the time the defendant was placed on notice of the injury to the date of judgement. Illinois remains one of just four States not to have some form of prejudgment interest available for trial-winning plaintiffs.
Healthcare Employers Who Have Excluded Employees from COVID-related Leave Benefits under FFCRA Must Reconsider after USDOL Amends Temporary Regulations
By Jennifer Long and Nicholas J. Lynn
The United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) initial temporary regulations that interpreted and implemented the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) permitted employers to elect to exclude healthcare provider employees from eligibility for the COVID-related leave benefits made available under FFCRA. The initial DOL regulations provided a broad definition of healthcare provider, allowing most employees working for a healthcare provider employer to be excluded from FFCRA leave benefits, including Paid Sick Leave (PSL) and Extended Family and Medical Leave (EFMLA). After a federal district court decision struck down parts of the DOL’s prior final rule, the DOL now has issued revised regulations, which became effective on September 16, 2020, and expire along with the FFCRA on December 31, 2020. For a detailed discussion of the FFCRA requirements and the DOL’s revised temporary regulations, see our April 3, 2020 Alert and our September 17, 2020 Alert. Continue reading “Healthcare Employers Who Have Excluded Employees from COVID-related Leave Benefits under FFCRA Must Reconsider after USDOL Amends Temporary Regulations”