Approximately 15,000 nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association began a three-day strike Monday morning in the largest ever-reported strike of nurses in the private sector in the United States. The strike directly...more
The news that the economy has shrunk for a second straight quarter likely comes as no surprise to businesses in the healthcare sector. After all, the results of our FP Flash Survey on Economic Uncertainty revealed that...more
Welcome to another edition of FP’s Healthcare Snapshot. We continue to focus considerable attention on developments exacerbated by COVID-19, particularly those related to staffing and regulatory issues, which persistently...more
Welcome to our latest Healthcare Snapshot, where we take a quick look at some of the most pressing issues facing employers in the industry. Even though COVID-19 numbers are generally trending in a positive direction,...more
4/18/2022
/ Caregivers ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Labor Shortage ,
Mental Health ,
NLRB ,
Nurses ,
Nursing Homes ,
OSHA ,
Physicians ,
Skilled Nursing Facility ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
West coast employers have been dealing with a new era of workplace litigation since the start of the pandemic, one that features increased claims, higher settlement demands, and more aggressive plaintiffs’ counsel – and if...more
Healthcare organizations across the country should train their attention on a federal court case pending in Georgia that deals squarely with whether RNs performing utilization review (UR) work are exempt from overtime pay...more
Federal workplace safety authorities just announced that they are accepting additional comments regarding a final permanent standard that will address COVID-19 exposure in healthcare settings. According to the March 22...more
For the second time in a week, key members of the healthcare provider community are the focus of an announcement promising more pandemic-related scrutiny from a federal agency. The Occupational Safety and Health...more
Welcome to FP Snapshot on Healthcare, where we take a quick look at some of the most significant current workplace law issues, including hot non-COVID-19 issues, with an emphasis on the practical impact of how they affect...more
2/23/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Mandates ,
Exemptions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Shortage ,
Nurses ,
Physicians ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Since we first explained the CMS vaccine mandate (the Interim Final Rule (IFR) from the Centers from Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that requires COVID-19 vaccinations for all staff at covered facilities), the mandate has...more
Note: This CMS Rule refenced in this Insight is separate and distinct from the OSHA ETS that was issued on November 4. Thus, although the CMS Rule could also be challenged in court, the November 6 court order blocking...more
11/9/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Entities ,
Enforcement ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
New Rules ,
Preemption ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Earlier this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order immediately restricting entities in the state – including employers – from compelling any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccination if that individual...more
10/14/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Governor Abbott ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Subcontractors ,
Texas ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The healthcare industry has unique data management needs as it deals with patient information that is sensitive, personal, and confidential. However, this data is often stored and spread across different facilities and...more
7/14/2021
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Management ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Data Storage ,
Data-Sharing ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Information Blocking Rules ,
Physicians ,
Popular
Almost six months after President Joe Biden directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to determine whether emergency temporary standards (ETS) concerning COVID-19 were necessary, OSHA finally issued the...more
6/14/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
First Responders ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
Nursing Homes ,
OSHA ,
Physicians ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sick Employees ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Concluding that a highly publicized lawsuit challenging Houston Methodist Hospital’s mandatory vaccination policy failed to state viable legal claims and misrepresented certain facts, federal Judge Lynn Hughes dismissed the...more
6/14/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Physicians ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
Pushback against employer-mandated COVID-19 vaccines has stirred media attention in Texas, home to the world’s largest medical complex. Specifically, a nurse working at a hospital in the Houston Methodist system has...more
4/19/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The CDC recently adopted a recommendation from an advisory committee that healthcare workers should be the first in line to get COVID-19 vaccine shots after they receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....more
We have already taken a broad look at workplace law developments likely to emerge under Joe Biden’s administration, unless the political landscape shifts suddenly and dramatically. The healthcare industry is of course already...more
11/16/2020
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Physicians ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Employers of healthcare providers will soon be required to provide paid sick leave and partially paid family leave to a broader category of employees, and all employers subject to the law now have clarification on a number of...more
9/14/2020
/ Consent ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Leave ,
Required Documentation ,
Sick Leave ,
Work Availability Requirement
In a surprising and significant ruling Monday, a New York federal judge tossed out several key Department of Labor rules regulating the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), meaning that more workers will be able...more
8/5/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Labor Regulations ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Required Documentation ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour
As medical offices, clinics, and surgical centers re-open, employers will not only face questions about clinical protocols and recommended steps for disinfecting and safeguarding the workplace from COVID-19, but must also...more
6/22/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Sick Employees ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) just issued interim enforcement guidance regarding respiratory protection, relaxing its standard in light of the nationwide shortage of N95 masks during the COVID-19...more
4/10/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Interim Guidance ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety
The healthcare industry is truly on the front lines of the nation’s and the world’s response to COVID-19. As a result, healthcare providers, their employees, and affiliates are likely already well-versed on the virus and how...more
3/24/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Physicians ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Leave ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
Fisher Phillips has assembled a cross-disciplinary taskforce of attorneys across the country to address the many employment-related issues facing employers in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus – especially now that the...more
3/3/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Foreign Workers ,
Global Workforce ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Relations ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Safety
The government just sent a stern reminder to all employers, especially those involved in providing healthcare, that they must still comply with the protections contained in the HIPAA Privacy Rule during the Coronavirus...more
2/13/2020
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Information Sharing ,
Medical Records ,
PHI ,
Public Health