The Nomberg Law Firm: June 2020

Thursday, June 25, 2020

THE DEATH OF A PROMISE? A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security is the promise made by the government to the hardworking American people. A portion of your every paycheck is withheld and placed in a common pool that you will one day benefit from. This promise is the reason we do not object, well, not all the time, to having a fraction of our hard-earned dollars taken away. We count on and rely upon the knowledge that one day in the future it will all have been worth it. It is the safety net for our own retirement savings plan and the hallmark of our government’s care for the well-being of its citizens. But what if this plan became unstable? What if this carefully laid out, thought-through scheme crumbled because of an unexpected disaster? What can the Social Security fund handle without collapsing?

Social Security is funded by current, working taxpayers. A portion of their income is withheld from each paycheck, which is listed as FICA taxes on paystubs. This tax is paid into a fund in the government that is then distributed to current citizens collecting Social Security benefits. The inherent flaw soon to trace cracks through the system is settled in the manner in which the fund is set up. It is not a savings account that citizens pay into, the fund takes the current revenue and uses this to pay the current beneficiaries their benefits. This system was already displaying fault lines with the decline in population regeneration. Less Americans were paying into the fund because the working population was not proportionate to the number of people collecting benefits. But these fault lines will soon crack open to swallow whole the remaining stores of the Social Security fund.[2]

A recent report from the Social Security Administration detailed the expectancy of the fund’s insolvency by 2035. This report was introduced before the full extent of the effects of the coronavirus were studied. Since this time, it is proposed by some experts that instead of bankruptcy in 2035, we could expect the collapse of the fund as soon as 2028. Insolvency does not necessarily mean the complete fallout of payments to retired Americans, it means that benefits will be slashed. Only a percentage of what is owed will be available. These cuts will only grow as time goes on.[3]

The timeline has been stepped up due to the effects of the pandemic on the working population. With the number of Americans unemployed reaching the same rates as those last seen during the Great Depression, those able to pay into the fund have bottomed out. Moreover, those recently unemployed due to the pandemic that are near the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits, many will elect to start drawing benefits earlier than anticipated in order to make up for the unexpected income loss.[4] With no revenue from which to draw upon to pay benefits, the Social Security Administration is drawing upon its miniscule reserves to pay beneficiaries. Further, Congress has permitted employers to delay payments of their Social Security payroll tax for two years, a further depletion of the immediate stores in the fund. Ongoing reforms may become a necessity in order to save the Social Security fund, including changes to eligibility, the amount allotted to individuals, and increases to payroll taxes.[5] Time will be the only indicator of the future of these benefits.

If you are hurt on the job due to unsafe working conditions, seek legal counsel, as you may be entitled to workers’ compensation or other benefits. As we have since 1967, we will continue to protect the legal rights of our clients – those who are hurt on the job while working for Alabama employers. If you have been injured on the job and want to learn your rights, please consider contacting the Nomberg Law Firm. Our office number is 205-930-6900.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ebauer/2020/03/12/forget-the-politics-heres-what-the-democrats-covid-19coronavirus-social-insurance-proposal-includes/#355c087d5d48.

[2] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-may-deal-the-final-blow-to-social-security-and-medicare-2020-04-28.

[3] https://reason.com/2020/04/24/social-security-will-be-insolvent-even-sooner-thanks-to-covid-19-pandemic/.

[4] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/17/coronavirus-social-security-2030-261207.

[5] https://reason.com/2020/04/24/social-security-will-be-insolvent-even-sooner-thanks-to-covid-19-pandemic/.

Bernard D. Nomberg has been a lawyer for more than 20 years. Bernard has earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell’s peer-review rating. In 2019, Bernard was named a Super Lawyer for the 7th year in a row.

from The Nomberg Law Firm – Birmingham Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers https://www.nomberglaw.com/blog/future-of-social-security/

Thursday, June 18, 2020

WILL I EVEN HAVE A JOB TO GO BACK TO? THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF TELECOMMUTING AND COVID-19

person's hand filling out an unemployment compensation form
[1]

Laid off, furloughed, unemployed . . . these labels may, in essence, mean different things, but the nuances and subtleties of each variation feels alarmingly similar for the millions of Americans experiencing one or the other in the destructive wake of the coronavirus. Whether one’s employment has been terminated entirely or simply postponed until economic conditions are more stable or the need for a certain job is back on the uptake, the sense of panic and helplessness is a common theme. Questions running the gamut from “how long will I receive unemployment” to “will my job even be needed when this pandemic ends” are mounting and, unfortunately, largely unpredictable in answer.

Even in the midst of this uncertainty, there is good news and reason for hope. In April, the federal unemployment rate skyrocketed to 19.7%; however, the first decline in this rate since the onset of COVID-19 was reported for the month of May. With the phased re-opening of states that began last month, 2.5 million jobs were added to the economy and the unemployment rate dropped to 13.3%. While this is still an appallingly high percentage, it is progress. In the face of this resurgence, Americans may still be questioning the impact this may have on them personally. With approximately 30 million workers collecting unemployment benefits, this concern is not without merit.[2]

Enduring a season where only “essential” businesses remained open and massive corporations learned to function on a skeleton crew, the concern for the need of every position held before the pandemic is legitimate. For the employee, this is the waking nightmare. While no one can predict the future for all positions at every company, some experts are predicting that telecommuting will be the wave of the future to keep costs low and employment steady. Companies are choosing not to renew expensive leases on office spaces after experiencing the benefits of technological advances as it aids going to the office while never leaving your living room.

Still other experts are anticipating a reallocation of jobs. The focus of the American economy has shifted from leisure, tourism, and travel to delivery services, cleaning, and health care. For every ten jobs lost, three jobs are created. While Americans no longer have the luxury of traveling for vacations without fear of contracting this new virus, this very same hesitation has created an increased demand for services already in existence but often under-utilized. This new awareness of “essential” industries could be the short-term salvation for the economy.[3] As for the long-term impact of coronavirus on the economy, much is left to be determined with many questions still awaiting an answer.

[1] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/cares-act-unemployment-benefits.html.

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/05/may-2020-jobs-report/.

[3] https://www.marketplace.org/2020/05/08/how-many-jobs-will-come-back-after-the-covid-19-pandemic-ends/.

from The Nomberg Law Firm – Birmingham Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers https://www.nomberglaw.com/blog/potential-effects-of-telecommuting-and-covid-19/

Friday, June 12, 2020

HOW MUCH LONGER WILL I HAVE TO WORK FROM HOME?

[1]

Working from home is the new norm for most Americans with almost two-thirds of the working population transitioned to couch labor since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The sudden job site shift may have been a welcome change for most of these workers, allowing many to see the novelty of the inside of their home at eleven am on a Tuesday morning, but prolonged exposure has sparked unrest. What was once an embraced changed has now quieted down into a frustration (not so) stay-cation. While working from home has the benefit of lounge wear and a short commute to the couch, these advantages are balanced by ever-present children in a worker’s ‘office’ and a lost sense of structure. All of this has culminated in the ultimate question (and hopeful plea): when can I go back to work?

The daunting reality of the answer to this question is not an easy pill to swallow. It turns out that most companies are seeking to be the last to return to the office. In Alabama specifically, stay-at-home orders expired over a month ago on April 30th, yet many workers have yet to be called back into the office.[3] It may be a beneficial to employees that most bosses are realizing all the meetings that truly could have been an email, but this also means that companies are recognizing the potential to expand profit margins by offloading expensive office space. By having employees telecommute when possible, the need to house workers and monitor via technology is quickly becoming the desired end game. In fact, Nationwide insurance has closed five offices around the country and made a permanent move to have 4,000 employees work remotely. But this does not necessarily mean you will never see your coworkers while on the clock again. Some employers are reporting that prolonging back-to-office dates well-past the stay-at-home orders end is merely a precaution to allow management to reconfigure the layouts of offices and job sites in order to comply with social distancing and to minimize the spread of hazardous germs.[4] Employees may see upon the eventual return to the job site that offices have been reconfigured into open concept work spaces to increase employee productivity while decreasing the time spent within six feet of other employees.

With reconfiguration and mass sanitation underway, most offices have taken the approach of a phased reopening, only allowing a set proportion of the employee population to return to the office at a time in order to maintain control of the health of the office. But the end result of this plan, as hoped for by many employees, is to allow workers to return to the office. While a date for individual companies may not be a uniform standard across the board, it is a shared goal for most.[5]

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2020/05/20/new-survey-shows-47-increase-in-productivity-3-things-you-must-do-when-working-from-home/#4de1a06780dc.

[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/work-from-home-pandemic/611098/.

[3] https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/us/states-reopen-coronavirus-trnd/.

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/technology/coronavirus-work-from-home.html.

[5] https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2020/05/agencies-start-reopening-offices-though-approaches-vary/165658/.

from The Nomberg Law Firm – Birmingham Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers https://www.nomberglaw.com/blog/how-much-longer-will-i-have-to-work-from-home/

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

MY CO-EMPLOYEE INTENTIONALLY COUGHED ON ME AT WORK. CAN I SUE HIM OR MY EMPLOYER?

photo of a man wearing a mask during pandemic at work Re-entering the work force after weeks turning into months in quarantine, there is the rising potential for new forms of harassment in the workplace. One such form is the intentional spreading of germs by co-employees. It may be that people have become so estranged from decorum and boundaries after sheltering in place in close proximity with friends, roommates, or family, or it may be the case that cabin fever has left some people a little crazed. In either event, what can be done if a co-employee intentionally coughs on you at work?

To start, it is the responsibility of employers to ensure the safety of their job sites. In doing this, employers must follow the guidelines set out by their state and local governments. Employees should be pre-screened before coming to work, and upon entry to the workplace, temperatures should be taken to prohibit those with fevers and symptoms of COVID-19 from entering the workplace. Employees should maintain a distance of six feet from one another as much as possible while working in order to avoid the potential for spreading germs. Further, if an employer is informed of an employee’s contraction or diagnosis of COVID-19, it is the duty of the employer not to inform the rest of his employees that there has been a diagnosis, but to warn of the potential for exposure. Because of HIPPA guidelines, an employer cannot reveal that there has been a diagnosis or the identity of the potential source of future spread.[1]

In this vein, employers are required by the OSHA General Duty Clause to provide employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to COVID-19. This means employers are obligated to provide the means by which to prevent such exposure. While there is no clear standard across the board for the method of prevention, it is generally accepted that employers should provide protection that is proportional to the type of work performed, i.e., healthcare providers require greater levels of protection as compared to those working the retail sector. [2] The common consensus, however, is that all workers should be wearing face masks to cover noses and mouths because the virus mainly spreads from person to person via the respiratory system, in addition to the virus being transmitted by high-contact surfaces.[3] It is common during this time of heightened caution that employees feel their employers could be doing more to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. But if an employer is following every guideline of the CDC and OSHA to the letter, the employer is fully compliant and not in the wrong.[4]

You may be wondering what to do if you believe you contracted the virus while on the worksite. There is the possibility you have a workers’ compensation claim for being exposed to the contamination. However, the biggest obstacle you will face is how you came into contact with the contamination and the point in time when you contracted COVID-19. Proving this to any degree of certainty tough because the coronavirus is a novel disease of which much information remains unknown. The good news is that, as an employee, you do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong for you to recover under workers’ compensation. Every guideline could be in place and every employee in a face mask, but you can still recover on your claim as long as the workplace is the source of exposure.[5] Any illness requiring hospitalization or continuing treatment for three or more days, according to the Family and Medical Leave Act, may qualify as a serious health condition which provides between twelve and twenty six weeks of leave.[6]

Knowledge and proactiveness is the best form of pretention, but you should know your options in the case your exposure is not of your own doing. Please wear a mask, wash your hands frequently and practice social distancing. Remember, there is the possibility that you have already contracted COVID-19 and are an asymptomatic carrier who can spread the virus despite not showing symptoms. Always conduct yourself as if you have COVID-19 so that you do not infect others.

[1]https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fs351#:~:text=%2D%20Employers%20need%20to%20follow,department%20for%20additional%20guidance..

[2] https://www.kiplinger.com/article/business/T012-C032-S014-covid-19-at-work-your-legal-rights.html.

[3] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html.

[4] https://www.kiplinger.com/article/business/T012-C032-S014-covid-19-at-work-your-legal-rights.html.

[5] https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2009/09/18/what-to-do-when-contagious-illnesses-come-to-work/.

[6] https://hr.blr.com/HR-topics/Benefits-Leave/FMLA-Leave-of-Absence.

from The Nomberg Law Firm – Birmingham Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers https://www.nomberglaw.com/blog/my-co-employee-coughed-on-me-at-work-can-i-sue-him-or-my-employer/