As frigid temperatures descend upon much of our country, heat standards may be the last thing on employers’ minds. Perhaps it was for this reason that the Department of Labor (DOL) extended the comment period associated with...more
As we reported at the time, in summer 2023 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a new final rule amending its occupational injury and illness recordkeeping regulation and imposing new electronic...more
Since the Biden Administration assumed control in 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) has been increasingly focused on enforcement. That is particularly true when it comes to safety and health in the workplace, as enforced by...more
According to the National Safety Council, every year, millions of workers in the U.S. report having been a victim of workplace violence. In 2020, workplace assaults resulted in more than 20,000 workplace injuries...more
As the entire country should know by now, on January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued an Opinion reinstating the stay of enforcement by OSHA of its Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 (ETS). You can...more
The Supreme Court Thursday afternoon released its much-anticipated decisions regarding the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued late last year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Developments immediately before the holiday break have many employers scrambling as the OSHA ETS has seemingly come back to life. The Sixth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision by a 3-member panel, dissolved the temporary stay...more
On December 7, 2021, the federal district court for the Southern District of Georgia (the Court) issued a preliminary injunction preventing the government from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and...more
President Biden is ramping up measures aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. He announced a series of new actions on September 9, 2021, including a plan to require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their...more
9/29/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Workers ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Service Contract Act ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Earlier this evening, the President of the United States announced a series of actions aimed at confronting the COVID-19 pandemic. For one thing, President Biden stated he is signing an Executive Order requiring all...more
We’ve been saying for some time now that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was expected to release an emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 – now that day has finally come! On June 10, 2021, OSHA...more
6/11/2021
/ Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Healthcare ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Social Media ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
State and Local Order Rule and Regulatory Impact -
Q: Does the CDC’s new guidance for vaccinated people impact state and local orders or rules that may still require mask wearing and social distancing?
A: No. As...more
5/18/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
For more than a year, the world has reacted to and adjusted for COVID-19. Now, with the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, there is light at the end of the tunnel and individuals and companies can start moving forward and planning...more
4/1/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Indemnification Clauses ,
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) ,
Masks ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Remote Working ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In President Biden’s first 48 hours on the job, he issued approximately 30 executive orders. One of these is an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety. The Order, as the title implies, directs the federal...more
More than 3,000 workers have filed complaints with OSHA since January 2020, alleging concerns over potential exposure to COVID-19, according to Freedom of Information Act records analyzed by the Washington Post. In the...more
OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) issued its electronic injury reporting rule in May, 2016. When issued, OSHA had intended all employers (over time) to submit their injury and illness records (OSHA Form...more
The compliance date for employers to file their 2016 OSHA 300A reports on the new electronic website has been delayed an additional two (2) weeks pursuant to a regulation issued on Wednesday, November 22, 2017, and which is...more
Most know that lawsuits against an employer based on an employee’s workplace injury are barred by the applicable State’s Worker’s Compensation Act. However, did you know that in some circumstances, an employer may be...more
This past November, Congress passed a budget that included legislation requiring federal agencies to adjust their civil penalties to account for inflation. In response, the Department of Labor (DOL) is adjusting penalties for...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is charged with enforcing the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA Act), and its various regulations intended to keep employees safe in their workplaces. Failure to...more