Students around the US, even those at colleges with trimester and quarter systems, are returning to school. Amidst the back-to-school buzz, it is a good time to discuss some of the new or often overlooked labor and employment law issues arising or reemerging as schools again are back in session.

Over the past two-and-one-half years, some states and many more localities have enacted paid sick leave laws and ordinances. Employers should generally be aware of their obligations to provide paid sick leave for the jurisdictions in which their employees work (see Paid Sick Leave State and Local Laws Chart: Overview). Moreover, employers that are obligated to provide paid sick leave should recognize that along with the customary obligations under those laws (paying employees who take specified numbers of days of leave to recover from illnesses or to care for ill family members), most of these laws permit employees to use accrued paid sick leave time to tend to children whose schools have been closed. Under many of the laws, such as New York City's, the school closure must be prompted by a "public health emergency" (see N.Y.C. Admin. Code, tit. 20, ch. 8, Local Law 46 § 20-914(3)). Other laws permit the leave to be used when there is an unexpected school closure, prompted by something less than a public health emergency such as inclement weather (for example, see Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Tit. 2, ch. 40, Section 40.220b(5) and (6)).

School closure leave naturally must be requested and may only be required when schools are in session. Employers, especially those that are covered by state or local paid sick leave laws, should learn under what circumstances they may be required to grant paid leave to employee-parents or custodians because of school closures.

As school begins, employers can expect an increase in employee-parents' requests for leave to attend their children's school-related activities, including parent-teacher conferences and parent orientations. Employers should be aware that approximately 20% of the states and the District of Columbia protect employees from adverse employment actions for seeking leave to attend their children's school-related activities. These laws are often called "School Visitation" or "Parent Involvement" leave laws. For example:

Employers should review the leave laws in the jurisdictions in which their employees work to determine under what conditions they may be required to grant employees leave to attend school-related activities during work hours. For more information, see the Leave Laws: State Q&A Tool.

The employment of minors is heavily restricted by federal and state laws and regulations (see Practice Note, Child Labor Law).

State child labor laws particularly circumscribe minors' work schedules and total hours when school is in session. For example, in New York, during the school year, employers may not employ:

Also, New York employers must post a schedule of work hours for minors.

For more information on New York's child labor laws see Wage and Hour Laws: New York: Question 6.

In this day and age, employers that hire minors only occasionally or for largely unsupervised work (such as off-premises website and information technology work) are often less savvy about these laws and more susceptible than the average grocery store or fast food restaurant to inadvertent child labor law violations. However, employers of all experience levels should review their scheduling practices to comply with the stricter child labor restrictions that apply in each jurisdiction to minors when schools are in session. To gather and compare the child labor laws in multiple jurisdictions select Question 6 and the desired jurisdictions in the Wage and Hour Laws: State Q&A Tool.

High-profile litigations in recent years should highlight for employers the legal pitfalls of engaging unpaid interns (for example, see Legal Update Second Circuit Amends Fox Searchlight Decision on Unpaid Internships). For more information on some of those legal risks, see Practice Note, Interns, Trainees, and Volunteers Under the FLSA.

Most employers have adjusted their practices regarding interns to reduce noncompliance risks. However, as formal, attorney-vetted summer internships end with some transforming into informal "around classes" internships, employers should consider reevaluating and adjusting their current intern practices. Also, employers should review any internship agreements they believe govern these arrangements to ensure they accurately reflect current understandings about how the interns are benefiting from the work and otherwise set legally compliant practices.

For guidance on forming, or freshening, intern relationships, see the Internship Program Checklist. For a model unpaid internship agreement, see Standard Document, Unpaid Internship Agreement (Learning Contract). For state-specific model unpaid internship agreements, see the Wage and Hour Claims Toolkit: State-Specific Materials.

Union organizing on private colleges and university campuses is not new. For examples of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) for employees on those campuses see the What's Market Collective Bargaining Agreement Database. However, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has recently viewed higher education through different lenses than it has over much of the past 42 years, fostering an environment where union activity may proliferate.

With the exception of an approximately four year period between 2000 and 2004, the NLRB has held since the 1970s that student research and teaching assistants at private colleges and universities are not employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). That has not stopped unions from organizing these students and demanding voluntary recognition as the students' collective bargaining representative, but the unions have rarely succeeded on those demands.

However, just as classes began at most private colleges and universities this semester, the NLRB extended NLRA rights to research and teaching assistants (see Legal Update University Student Assistants Are Employees Covered by the NLRA and Entitled to Unionize: NLRB). It remains to be seen how much unions will invest in organizing students and how private colleges and universities will respond. However, union organizing will undoubtedly be among the topics and experiences college students will learn about and be encouraged to try out on the quad or in their dorms. College students, more than people of other demographics, tend to enjoy picketing, chanting, soliciting support for and distributing literature for causes, regardless of their ultimate interest in the cause.

Private colleges and universities and private employers that do business with them should anticipate and prepare for more union activity. Each should also get familiar with the employment terms and conditions research and teaching assistants yearn for in collective bargaining. For analysis of a rare CBA covering research and teaching assistants that will likely serve as the benchmark for bargaining in this segment of higher education "employees" for years to come, see What's Market, New York University and International Union, UAW and Local 2110, UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement.