The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final regulations and Interpretative Guidance to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA requires...more
On August 11, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) formally published proposed regulations to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). In a matter of just under 9 months, since the law was...more
8/14/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Essential Functions ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued proposed regulations (NPRM) to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to a qualified...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a three-year national emphasis program permitting extensive inspections of warehousing and distribution center operations, mail/postal processing and...more
Under a new Minnesota law legalizing recreational marijuana, beginning August 1, 2023, individuals 21 years of age or older may possess or transport up to two ounces of cannabis flower in public and to possess up to two...more
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed into law Senate Bill 47 on March 31, 2023 which legalizes medical cannabis in Kentucky. Under the law, eligible Kentucky residents will be able to apply for a registry identification...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) successfully established the existence of an excessive heat hazard for which the agency cited the employer, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC)...more
The new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP For Nursing Mothers Act) were adopted when President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations...more
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signed a bill legalizing recreational marijuana in the state on May 25, 2022. The new law took effect immediately. Adults age 21 and older now can possess up to an ounce of cannabis, may grow...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has made clear that heat illness is a top priority, and the forthcoming heat exposure standard is certain to affect construction firms....more
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has partially reopened the record on the rulemaking for the permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard, known as the rule on “Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare...more
3/30/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Nurses ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Writ of Mandamus
With its new inspection initiative, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is taking steps to ensure certain healthcare employers continue to protect workers against COVID-19, even as falling case numbers...more
On April 4, 2022, a merits panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on a petition seeking to force OSHA to issue a permanent standard for healthcare occupational exposure to COVID-19 and to...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled expedited arguments on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s decision to lift the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has lifted the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 vaccination and testing for...more
On December 14, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) added a new section, COVID-19 and the Definition of “Disability” Under the ADA/Rehabilitation Act, to its COVID-19 guidance. The updated guidance...more
Less than two months after receiving direction from President Joe Biden, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) covering employers with at least 100...more
11/4/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Documentation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Joe Biden ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
Many states have Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-approved workplace safety and health programs (OSHA State Plans) and enjoy enforcement autonomy over workplace safety and health in those states,...more
A Congressional committee has approved maximum penalties of $700,000 per item for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.
The move would mean more than a fivefold increase of maximum...more
On September 9, 2021, the White House issued Path Out of the Pandemic: President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan (the Plan). The Plan outlines a six-pronged approach, portions of which will impose new obligations on employers...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its COVID-19 guidance for non-healthcare employers, Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace, on August...more
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has found, as a matter of first impression, that medical marijuana users may maintain a private action under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (MMA), including a wrongful discharge action....more
On July 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued guidance explaining that “long COVID” can be a disability under Titles II and III of the Americans with...more
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (UFCW), and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) have filed a petition for review of OSHA’s recent...more
An employer’s failure to notify an employee of the cost of a confirmatory re-test of his original drug test specimen is a violation of the Iowa drug testing law. Woods v. Charles Gabus Ford, Inc., Case No. 19-0002 (Iowa June...more