On November 18, 2021 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation banning private employers, regardless of size, from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations unless several exemptions are offered to employees. Effective...more
In a very strongly worded 22-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed its earlier stay of OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) calling for employee vaccination or weekly testing...more
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) maintains an occupational safety and health plan that is approved and monitored by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (federal OSHA)....more
The one question on everyone’s mind is when, if ever, will employers learn whether OSHA will actually issue the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) that OSHA delivered to the White House’s Office of Management and...more
5/26/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Cal-OSHA ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Masks ,
OIRA ,
OMB ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
SBA ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On May 5, 2021, Governor Cuomo of New York signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (HERO Act) into law. The HERO Act creates occupational safety and health standards in the private sector for all airborne...more
5/14/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Prevention Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
It is probably safe to say that as more businesses continue to reopen without restrictions and there is increased availability to vaccine supplies, many employers are considering whether they want to implement a mandatory...more
The past several weeks have seen significant action from the major federal agencies involved with employment law: EEOC, NLRB, DOL, and OSHA. In today's new episode, Mike Schmidt will highlight the direction these agencies...more
4/20/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Both federal and state OSHA regulators have been regularly citing employers for failure to comply with their respective respiratory protection standards in connection with COVID-19 inspections and these citations have not...more
On January 21, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order directing OSHA to consider issuing an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) related to COVID-19. If the ETS is deemed necessary, the executive order instructed...more