The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce has raised significant concerns about an early draft of regulations to implement a new state law requiring paid family leave.
“While I appreciate the enormity of your task, and with no disrespect intended, I find the law and existing draft regulations to be extremely daunting and difficult to use,” Timothy M. Holly wrote on the first page of his 41-page letter, prepared for the chamber and sent to the Delaware Department of Labor. He is co-chair of the labor and employment law group at Connolly Gallagher in Wilmington.
“In short, the law and regulations present a substantial burden as to both learning and implementation, with the ‘how-to’ and ‘what must I do’ frequently very unclear.”
The Healthy Delaware Families Act, which Gov. John Carney signed into law last May, mandates up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for Delaware workers starting Jan. 1, 2025. The long gap is to allow time for creating regulations, forms, portals and other bureaucratic elements.
“This is exponentially complicated,” said Michael Quaranta, president of the chamber, referring to challenges that will make it difficult for small businesses to comply with Delaware’s family leave rules. “Compliance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act is complicated enough.”
He emphasized the limited expertise of small businesses and the complexity of compliance.
Delaware has about 57,000 businesses. Big businesses employ about 240,000 workers. Small...
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