After the news yesterday that a federal court judge struck down the CDC’s mask mandate for airplanes, mass transportation, and transit hubs, many employers immediately wondered what it might mean for their business. Though...more
4/19/2022
/ Airlines ,
Business Travel ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Masks ,
Public Health ,
Transportation Industry ,
Traveling Employee ,
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
The proportion of employers mandating or considering mandating the COVID-19 vaccine increased nearly four-fold in the past three months, spurred by fears surrounding the Delta variant and the growing confidence that such...more
Although the COVID-19 vaccines are expected to receive full FDA approval – perhaps as soon as later this month – an increasing number of businesses are not waiting for full authorization and are pressing forward to require...more
The CDC’s recent recommendation that people in geographic areas with substantial or high COVID transmission rates wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, has added a new wrinkle in the already challenging world...more
8/3/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
With the Delta-variant-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases leading to new CDC masking guidance, statewide mandates, and the specter of further restrictions, employers have a renewed interest in seeing the vaccination rate of their...more
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday that the agency now recommends that people in areas with “substantial” and “high” COVID-19 transmission should wear masks indoors, regardless of...more
7/28/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Bolstering the renewed emphasis on increasing the number of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, a recent memo from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that just became public confirms that the “emergency use”...more
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
Invoking horrific images of Nazi war crimes and employees allegedly being used as “human guinea pigs,” a new round of lawsuits are challenging employers’ rights to enforce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements in Texas,...more
On the heels of Florida’s highly publicized COVID-19 vaccine passport ban, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday via Twitter that he too had signed a law banning Texas businesses from requiring vaccine passports...more
Now that most states, the CDC, and OSHA have (or may soon) lift mask mandates for vaccinated workers, what is an employer to do about revealing an employee’s vaccination status? Under any relaxed masking guidance applicable...more
It appears an overwhelming number of employers are not mandating their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine – more than four in five – but are instead encouraging their workforce to get inoculated from the virus. That’s...more
Responding to a huge looming question for employers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) just issued an announcement referring businesses to the CDC’s new guidance advising that fully vaccinated people no...more
5/19/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The announcement yesterday from the CDC that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any non-healthcare setting was a welcome relief for all Americans and a hopeful sign that we have...more
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
While many might be celebrating the first set of public health recommendations that permit relaxed safety standards for fully vaccinated people, employers should not be automatically changing their current safety practices as...more
Stopping short of completely eliminating quarantine requirements for people who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just substantially relaxed its recommended...more
With public hesitancy regarding the COVID-19 vaccine still running high, employers are considering whether and how to encourage – or even incentivize – employees to get vaccinated. A significant issue that can be overlooked...more
The vast majority of employers are not considering mandating their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine, instead choosing to encourage the shot – but a significant number of businesses remain confused and uncertain on...more
Now that a COVID-19 vaccine is becoming increasingly available, how can employers encourage employees to receive it? Beyond requiring the shots as a mandatory condition of employment – which is not an option many employers...more
1/27/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wellness Programs ,
Workplace Safety
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and continues to hammer businesses, workers, and lifestyles with record-high infection rates and hospitalizations, companies still face challenges in ensuring employees comply with critical...more
As most know by now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S on Friday, December 11, and the first Americans began to receive the vaccine yesterday...more