The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) has issued its guidance (Guidance) regarding the COVID-19 safety protocols that federal contractors must implement under President Biden’s recent Executive Order 14042. The...more
9/27/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Late last week, in the latest step to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joseph R. Biden announced new Federal contractor employee vaccination requirements that are set to go into effect as of 15 October. The...more
9/14/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Minimum Wage ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced several new initiatives aimed at increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. private sector workplaces, including directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration...more
Virginia employers should be aware of several new employment laws that have taken effect in the commonwealth in 2021. These laws create protections against employment discrimination based on disability and military status and...more
As District of Columbia businesses and area schools continue to reopen, employers should keep in mind their continuing obligations under the District’s COVID-19 leave laws, which the mayor recently extended through November...more
Following the CDC’s recent changes to its COVID-19 guidance, OSHA updated its COVID-19 guidance for non-health care settings to reflect more restrictive recommendations for employers in light of the increased transmissibility...more
8/18/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On 29 July 2021, the Biden Administration announced a wave of White House programs to boost vaccination rates in the United States, including programs aimed directly at federal contractors. These initiatives, summarized in a...more
Citing concerns about potential spread of the COVID-19 “Delta variant” and the fact that even fully vaccinated individuals infected with the Delta variant can spread COVID-19 to others, on July 27, 2021, the Centers for...more
D.C. employers should be aware that the District’s new law banning virtually all employee noncompete agreements and policies does not currently apply and likely will not become applicable this year....more
On June 10, 2021, the same day that it released its long-anticipated COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for healthcare settings (which we discuss here), the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)...more
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released the first nationwide emergency workplace safety rule per President Joe Biden’s January executive order directing the agency to pursue an...more
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its “What you should know about COVID-19” Frequently Asked Questions (the FAQs), answering questions many employers have had regarding COVID-19...more
On March 2, 2021, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it is amending its FY 2020 Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) for federal supply and...more
On January 11, 2021, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the Act). The Act has significant implications for D.C. employers, even those that do not use...more
As we explained in a recent post, as of January 1, 2021, COVID-19 leave is no longer mandated under the federal Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA), although covered employers who voluntarily provide paid leave...more
Employers subject to the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA or the Act) should be aware that they are no longer required to provide paid leave to employees for the COVID-19 related reasons specified in the Act. In...more
In Tuesday's Report: An overview of EU and German financing measures for companies responding to COVID-19; U.S. passes relief legislation affecting surprise billing; U.K. traveler bans; an analysis of key considerations in...more
On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 guidance to address COVID-19 vaccines in the workplace. The EEOC’s guidance implies that a mandatory workplace vaccination program...more
12/18/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 11, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which generally requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid sick...more
A new D.C. emergency law titled “Protecting Businesses and Workers from COVID-19 Emergency Amendment Act of 2020” (Act), signed by the Mayor on August 13, 2020, requires all private employers and D.C. agencies to take...more
On August 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance (in FAQs numbered 98-100) clarifying how the childcare provisions of the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) apply to various remote and in-person...more
9/1/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Relief Measures ,
Remote Learning ,
School Closures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Students
On October 1, 2020, a new Maryland law related to compensation will:
- prohibit employers from requesting or relying on job applicants’ prior pay history to make decisions about employment or initial pay in most...more
8/20/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On August 3, 2020, in an action brought by the State of New York (New York) against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), a court in the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to New York and vacated four...more
Effective July 27, 2020, Virginia employers must comply with new COVID-19 workplace safety standards, known as the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The ETS applies to all employers subject to the jurisdiction of the...more
On July 8, 2020, the United States Supreme Court decided two cases addressing employers’ religious freedoms in very different contexts: one concerning whether religious school teachers could challenge adverse employment...more
7/29/2020
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Age Discrimination ,
Appeals ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
First Amendment ,
HRSA ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v Pennsylvania ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Religious Schools ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Teachers ,
Trump v Pennsylvania ,
U.S. Treasury