GNYADA March 2018 Newsletter Including Special Auto Show Edition

When Staff Qualify for Both PFL and FMLA

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With New York State’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) law now fuly in effect, it is important for dealers to know how PFL interacts with the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and any accrued sick time, vacation time, or other paid time off (PTO). An employee’s leave will often qualify under both PFL and FMLA, meaning dealers should ensure that both types of leave are running at the same time. While the qualifying reasons for leave under PFL are similar to those under FMLA, they do not totally overlap. Below are the types of leave that qualify for both: To care for a child during the first twelve months after birth, adoption, or fostering; To care for a parent, minor child, or spouse with a serious health condition; To relieve family pressures during a parent, child, or spouse’s military service. n n n

When PTO use may be required Dealers can allow but cannot require employees to use accrued sick, vacation, or other PTO to receive full pay while only PFL is running. Dealers can require employees to use accrued PTO while an employee is on FMLA leave or when PFL and FMLA are running at the same time. To have PFL and FMLA run concurrently and to require employees to use all accrued PTO during FMLA leave, a policy explaining this must be written and distributed to employees. Employees are entitled to 12 total weeks of leave combined FMLA and PFL in a 52-week period. If a worker takes the full eight weeks of PFL available in 2018, they cannot also, in that same 52-week period, take more than four weeks of FMLA. This article has been provided by GNYADA's Employee Relations Plan (ERP). ERP has a sample policy for ERP members. Call 718.746.5900 or email Julie@gnyada.com to find out more!

Make Sure You’re Getting Proper Reimbursement for Warranty Work 8

Since 2009, New York dealers have been able to be reimbursed for warranty parts and labor at the dealership’s retail rate. Surprisingly, there are many dealers who have yet to take advantage of this right, despite the fact that the difference between the OEM’s standard reimbursement and the dealership’s retail rates can be significant. Section 465 of the Franchised Motor Vehicle Dealer Act details how dealers can request an increase in its reimbursement rate; the OEM must respond within 30 days. An OEM can rebut only if (i) the dealer failed to follow Section 465’s calculation procedures; or (ii) the submitted rate or mark-up is unreasonable compared to the practices of all other same line-

make dealers in the vicinity. The vast majority of submissions are accepted as presented; most rejections are due to errors that can be corrected and resubmitted. While most OEM’s comply with New York’s provisions, some attempt to make the process more difficult. When working with these OEM’s, a dealer can “manually” submit their labor rate increase through the statutory procedure. When that is done, the dealer can then also submit their parts mark-up increase request without any concern that it will be rejected. Retail reimbursement requests can be done every twelve months and, once approved, remain in effect until the

dealership seeks a change. To learn more about your dealership’s right to an increase in warranty parts reimbursement, contact GNYADA to discuss your options. GNYADA thanks Richard Sox, a shareholder in the Bass Sox Mercer law firm for this article. This communication is for educational purposes only and should not be construed or relied upon as legal advice. Attend GNYADA's Franchise Law Seminar on May 10 to learn more! Richard Sox, Russ McRory of Arent Fox, and Doug Clark of Shenker Russo & Clark will all be speaking.

Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association • www.gnyada.com

The Newsletter • March 2018

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