• videocam Live Webinar with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month September 17, 2026 @ 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel ERISA
  • schedule 90 minutes

Leave Requirements: Key Issues for Multistate Employers

About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will guide employers, plan sponsors, and counsel through the increasingly complex landscape of multistate paid and unpaid leave requirements and their interaction with employee benefit plan administration. The panel will discuss coordination of leave programs with health, welfare, and disability benefits, situations in which ERISA preemption may arise, recent court decisions and enforcement trends, and practical considerations for employers and their advisors.

Description

Multistate employers face an increasingly complex patchwork of paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, and other state and local paid and unpaid leave requirements. Navigating these obligations requires employers to coordinate federal leave laws, state mandates, disability and wage replacement programs, employer-provided leave benefits, and employee benefit plan administration.

 Most employers are focused on developing practical compliance strategies that allow them to administer leave programs consistently across jurisdictions while minimizing legal risk. However, other employers are seeking ways to minimize or avoid state mandates through ERISA preemption and other avenues.

 This webinar will examine the evolving multistate paid leave landscape, key compliance considerations, the interaction between leave laws and employee benefit plans, and situations in which ERISA preemption may arise, along with recent litigation and enforcement trends.

Listen as our panel discusses these developments and offers practical guidance for employers, plan sponsors, administrators, and counsel navigating the leave and benefits landscape.

Presented By

Shanna Cramer
Senior Counsel
Groom Law Group

Ms. Cramer has a national practice focused on health and welfare plans, including Taft-Hartley multiemployer plans. This includes counseling clients on mental health parity issues, HIPAA, ERISA and COVID-related matters. She also has experience in retirement and employment law, as well as paid leave, with a particular focus on compliance. Ms. Cramer's clients include universities, hospital systems, technology companies, communications companies and global e-commerce businesses.

Johanna L. Matloff
Partner
The Wagner Law Group, LLP

Ms. Matloff is an experienced litigator in disputes involving ERISA and employment benefits as well as employment, insurance, non-profit organizations, complex torts, nursing homes, and consumer and home improvement products liability. Her ERISA litigation experience includes ERISA preemption issues, benefit claims, plan benefit calculation matters, as well as breach of fiduciary duty claims. Ms. Matloff has also represented clients in litigation involving wrongful termination and retaliation claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act, unpaid wages and government contractor’s personnel files. She regularly advises clients, including both for-profit and non-profit organizations, on a variety of employment law matters. Ms. Matloff provides counsel to employers regarding employment-related policies and agreements, including non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, severance agreements, and employee handbooks. She advises non-profit organizations on a variety of legal and litigation matters including director’s and officer’s liability, human resources and personnel decisions, employment practices, contracts, First Amendment issues, collections, and insurance.

Credit Information
  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Thursday, September 17, 2026

  • schedule

    1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

I. Overview of the Multistate Paid Leave Landscape

II. Coordinating Leave Programs and Employee Benefits

III. ERISA Considerations in the Leave Context

IV. Litigation and Enforcement Trends

V. Best Practices for Employers and Counsel

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • Understanding key federal, state, and local leave requirements affecting multistate employers
  • Coordinating leave mandates with employer-sponsored disability, health, and welfare benefit programs
  • Identifying common compliance pitfalls and litigation risks in multistate leave administration
  • Determining when leave arrangements may implicate ERISA and when preemption arguments may be available
  • Reviewing recent court decisions, enforcement trends, and regulatory developments affecting leave programs
  • Developing practical compliance strategies and governance best practices for employers, plan sponsors, administrators, and counsel