COVID-19
New Frontier in COVID-19 Vaccine Litigation
Despite President Biden’s recent declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, litigation concerning employer vaccine mandates continues as employers face hurdles to ensure workplace safety and compliance with government mandates. Here we take a closer look at issues companies are facing more than two years into the pandemic, and how you may help your business…
Read MoreManufacturers Face Unique Problems in Accommodating Assembly Line Workers With Disabilities
As manufacturers rebound from the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and begin putting more employees back to work, they should be prepared for a corresponding increase in requests for accommodation from assembly line workers. These requests can create unique challenges in manufacturing plants due to the inherently physical nature of the work, but there…
Read MoreIntersection of ADA, COVID-19 Requires Creative Reopening Policies, EEOC Official Says
The EEOC has received hundreds of charges involving both COVID-19 vaccination and the ADA, according to Evangeline Hawthorne, the agency’s Tampa field office director. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has received thousands of charges related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. As of December 2021, more than 2,700 charges were related to COVID-19 vaccines,…
Read MoreEmployers Weigh Whether to Rescind Vaccination Policies
Now that the vaccine-or-testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been withdrawn, employers that have instituted mandatory vaccination or vaccine-or-testing policies are deciding whether to stay the course or backtrack. The U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked OSHA’s vaccine-or-testing rule, an ETS that applied to employers with at least 100…
Read More7 trends likely to shape HR in 2022
From the Great Resignation to vaccine mandate confusion, last year was a wild ride for HR. Some things may not have cleared up much — like when the pandemic will end or when the labor market will stabilize — but current predictions build on the learnings from the last 12 months. Nearly two years into…
Read MoreStates Limit Employer Power to Require the Jab
With OSHA’s COVID-vaccination mandate now stayed (almost certainly forever), and the vaccination mandate for government contractors also stayed (probably forever), U.S. employers must decide whether to impose their own COVID vaccination mandates on employees. And state laws will have something to say about that. The chart below summarizes current state laws that restrict a private sector…
Read MoreAssessing Compliance Obligations with the OSHA COVID-19 Vaccine/Testing ETS After the Sixth Circuit Reinstated the Standard
On Dec. 17, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved a stay from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and reinstated OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for vaccines and testing. Essentially, the Court agreed with the Department of Labor that it had authority to issue the ETS and that the circumstances warranted an emergency…
Read MoreEEOC Clarifies When COVID-19 May Be an ADA-Covered Disability
An employee’s or job applicant’s COVID-19-related impairment may qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) even if the worker’s initial COVID-19 illness was not covered, according to updated guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). A worker’s COVID-19 illness will not be considered an ADA disability if the worker…
Read MoreFederal Court Puts OSHA’s Emergency COVID Vaccination Mandates on Hold, But Private Employers Must Still Consider Next Steps
What You Should Know OSHA issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or regular testing for employees that do not choose to vaccinate. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rendered the ETS unenforceable by issuing a temporary stay, which it subsequently reaffirmed and which OSHA…
Read MoreOSHA Issues COVID-19 Workplace Vaccine-or-Testing Mandate
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its highly anticipated emergency temporary standard requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to mandate that their employees get vaccinated against the coronavirus or wear a mask and test for COVID-19 on at least a weekly basis. Additionally, the White House announced the following details: All unvaccinated workers must…
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