Archive for September 2021
HSA Distributions Reached ‘All-Time Low’ in 2020, EBRI Report Says
The average individual contribution to health savings accounts fell between 2019 and 2020, while average annual distributions fell to an “all-time low” last year, according to an Employee Benefit Research Institute report published this month. Both trends may have been driven by the pandemic in some way, EBRI said. HSA owners may have reduced contributions as unemployment…
Read MoreCOVID-19 Infection May Be an OSHA Recordable WorkRelated Illness
The COVID-19 pandemic will likely to be a concern and challenge for employers for longer than anyone had hoped or anticipated. As businesses adjust to what seems to be a “new normal” it is worth a reminder that COVID-19 infection can be a recordable illness on an employer’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (“OSHA”) 300…
Read MoreOFCCP Reopens Door to Request Employers’ Reported Pay Data
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs rescinded Sept. 2 a Trump administration notice that it did not intend to request, accept or utilize pay data collected under Component 2 of EEO-1 forms. In November 2019, OFCCP announced that it would not request, accept or use Component 2 data collected as part of…
Read MoreAs COVID-19 Cases Rise Again, New Federal and State Health and Safety Rules Diverge Dramatically
Employers are having to keep on their toes when it comes to protecting employees from COVID-19. Shifts in the outbreak continue to drive rapidly changing workplace health and safety rules in the Pacific Northwest, and this is leading to dramatically different requirements being imposed by federal and state authorities. No sooner had many employers considered…
Read MoreTiming Matters – Failure to Respond and Act Promptly Can Create Liability
A recent case emphasizes the importance of timing – both in terms of reacting to reports of employee misconduct and in imposing discipline (particularly termination). As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently found, terminating an employee, based on conduct that occurred months earlier, shortly after they complain of discrimination certainly seems…
Read MoreFDA Approval of Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Provides Cover for Employer Mandates
In a milestone for the public health response to the ongoing pandemic, regulators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Monday full approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine. The two-dose mRNA vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech has been available to individuals 16 years of age and older under the FDA’s emergency use authorization since…
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