Dear NIA Members,
An Important Follow-up Note from Gary Auman, NIA Legal Counsel
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has stated that the new Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Expanded FMLA Leave will become effective April 1, 2020, not on April 2 as originally anticipated. In addition, the DOL has adopted a non-enforcement period from March 18 through April 17. During this time period, the DOL has indicated it will not take enforcement action against an employer if the employer makes reasonable good-faith efforts to comply with the new paid leave provisions as determined by the DOL. Therefore, although eligible employees still must be granted leave beginning April 1, the DOL will not be pursuing violations until after April 17 for employers who are trying to comply with the law.
In addition, Auman, Mahan & Furry is offering a free 30-minute call on COVID-19 during March and April for NIA member companies. For more information, contact Auman, Mahan & Furry’s Labor and Employment Group at 937-223-6003.
Future Webinars
Given the urgent nature of our current and changing situation, NIA is planning a number of webinars to address the questions and concerns of our members. As these webinars are scheduled, we will share registration details. A few of the upcoming topics include:
- Understanding the Stimulus Packages: Phases 1, 2, and 3
- Contractor Panel–Concerns, challenges, opportunities, and ways to continue working during COVID-19
- Construction Outlook
- Using Technology to Maximize Productivity
- Supply Chain Challenges
- Personal Protective Equipment
Contractors: We Need Your Input for a Quick 2-Minute Survey
To help ensure that local, state, and federal governments do not take actions without considering the insulation industry, NIA has partnered with several insulation industry organizations. To better represent your needs, we ask you to take 2 minutes to complete an anonymous survey. Please note that this survey is going to a broad industry audience, so as a NIA Contractor member, please answer the questions, and comment if you choose, from a commercial and industrial perspective.
Click here to take the survey:
www.surveymonkey.com/r/DQBR6F2. We know you have incredible demands on your time and we appreciate your input.
Communicating with Our Members
We also realize that all our email inboxes have been flooded with updates about our country's rapidly evolving situation. In an effort to streamline NIA's communications with our members in these changing times, starting next week, we will curate information that is helpful, relevant, and informative and send it out on a regular basis. One note we want to pass along is that if you unsubscribe, we can no longer send you email communications, and virtual connections are now more important than ever.
Sharing Some Good News
We see the good stuff our members are doing for their colleagues and their communities. Whether it is one of our members scaling up production of an industrial-grade disinfecting cleaner, or photos of employees sewing masks, or smiling while donating blood, we would like to share the resiliency of our industry with our readers and members. If you have a story from your company about how we are coming together to face challenges, please send along to NIA at
editor@insulation.org.
We thank you for your ongoing commitment to NIA. We are in this together. If we can be of service to you and your business during this time, please contact me.
Kind regards,
Michele M. Jones
NIA EVP/CEO
