Frank Morris, Susan Gross Sholinsky Quoted in "States, Localities Enacted a Host of Private Sector Leave Laws in 2014"

“Leave falling within the jurisdiction of multiple leave laws must comply with all of the relevant laws, a challenge because of the number of laws involved and because of the rate at which the laws are being enacted,” said Frank C. Morris Jr., shareholder and head of the D.C. Labor & Employment practice at Epstein, Becker & Green. …

Susan Gross Sholinsky, member in the New York City Employment and Labor group of Epstein, Becker & Green and adjunct faculty member at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, also recommended that handbooks for different locations be tailored to the relevant jurisdictions to ensure all required notifications are communicated to relevant employees. She suggested this might be a way to avoid employees comparing notes on allotted amounts of leave in different locations, which could end up being an internal public relations problem for large employers that span many different jurisdictions. …

Epstein Becker's Morris said the intersection of state and local laws is fairly sophisticated legal territory that might cause compliance difficulties for some companies. One complicated aspect of the application of different laws in different locations relates to job functions that cover a broad service area, such as tech service providers or sales representatives who cover a regional territory, according to Morris. Knowing which laws apply to which job roles in such situations can become tricky. Paying close attention to the language of each leave law and making a good faith effort to comply with all requirements should keep companies in pretty good stead, he said. But companies do need to actively watch the progression of leave laws across the country and adjust their policies accordingly, Morris said.