Law360: Right-Of-Recall Compliance Issues For Employers To Study

In this article for Law360’s Employment Authority, O’Melveny Labor and Employment partner Adam Karr and counsel Kelly Wood examine compliance issues employers should be aware of as jurisdictions across the US enact or consider right-of-recall laws in the wake of COVID-related layoffs that have impacted millions of workers.

The authors note that the right to be recalled to a former job after being furloughed or laid off is a concept familiar to unionized workforces, but the government’s current attempts to expand this type of protection to the private sector through right-of-recall statutes represents new ground, leaving “a lot of compliance issues and many unanswered questions.”

Karr and Wood identify the top five things that employers must consider as compliance issues in dealing with right-of-recall statutes. Their analysis addresses key steps such as determining if a recall ordinance applies to a workforce, determining offer priority for available positions, establishing procedures for offers and the hiring process, and monitoring changes in state and local ordinances. They also highlight five challenges these types of laws will present going forward, including determining when an outside hire is permissible, and the lack of clarity regarding whether an employer is permitted to change the pay and duties of a position once a recalled employee is returned to work

Law360 subscribers can read the full article here.