The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported the start of the most severe flu season in over a decade, leading employers of all types to decide whether they should mandate flu shots for their workforce....more
It’s never easy to make accurate predictions about what we might expect to see in the workplace in the coming year. After all:
- At the start of 2020, no one could have predicted COVID-19.
- None of us had heard the phrase...more
11/1/2022
/ Affirmative Action ,
Background Checks ,
Blockchain ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Trade Secrets ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
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
Federal workplace safety officials just released the mandate-or-test workplace vaccine emergency rule, and employers are sure to have questions. The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) developed by the Occupational Safety and...more
11/5/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joint Employers ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety
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
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
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/10/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Telecommuting ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Death
As the flu season approaches and the COVID-19 pandemic continues, employers’ mandatory vaccination policies may soon become more important than ever. For several reasons, those policies will also attract unprecedented...more
8/19/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Influenza ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Screening Procedures ,
Sick Employees ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
When a California Court of Appeal revived a workplace lawsuit alleging state law disability discrimination and retaliation claims that had originally been dismissed by a trial court, it did more than decide that the mistaken...more
2/5/2020
/ Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disability Leave ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interactive Process ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reversal
When a medical or mental condition prevents an employee from working at full capacity, the situation can quickly become complicated for everyone, including the employee, human resources leaders, and well-intentioned...more
2/13/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Best Practices ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interactive Process ,
Job Duties ,
Medical Leave ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation
Even though the #MeToo movement has rightfully commanded overwhelming attention during the past year or so, supervisors cannot afford to lose sight of their substantial legal duties in complying with the Americans with...more
11/7/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Caregivers ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Duties ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Patient Safety ,
Physicians ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sick Leave
Today’s workplace is fraught with legal traps for well-intentioned but unwary managers. But one issue stands out far above the rest as perhaps the single biggest employee challenge in today’s workplace: malingering employees...more
8/14/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Confidential Communications ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Notification Requirements ,
Reasonable Accommodation
As a healthcare employer, it must be tempting to want to develop rigid workplace rules that will help newbie bosses reach conclusions almost automatically, especially where the best nurses or techs often become supervisors...more
2/10/2017
/ Criminal Background Checks ,
Dress Codes ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitals ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Willful Misconduct
In its continuing effort to press employers to accommodate workers under a variety of circumstances, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently sued a Massachusetts hospital over its flu shot policy. The June...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) poses ongoing compliance challenges and attracts significant attention from plaintiffs' lawyers and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The resulting litigation...more