Today is Part 2 of 2, following yesterday's episode. As his term as EEOC Commissioner ended at the end of August 2024, (former) EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling joined the podcast one last time to discuss a wide range of...more
Today's new episode discusses what you may have missed during the Summer of 2022, including COVID-19 and Monkeypox updates, unlawful dress codes, an ADA first, and brand new guidance from the EEOC and DOL....more
As we approach the unofficial start to Summer 2022, today's new episode addresses the 10 issues that should be on the radar of all employers....more
5/31/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Caregivers ,
Civil Service Reform Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Employees ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court re-issued a stay prohibiting the federal government (OSHA) from enforcing its ETS that required large employers to either mandate COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing. Today's new...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
On December 17, 2021, the 6th Circuit dissolved and eliminated the prior stay of enforcement that was in place for the OSHA ETS. In this special weekend episode, Michael Schmidt breaks down the 6th Circuit's surprising...more
This episode provides the current status of all of the federal vaccine mandates (OSHA ETS, health care industry rule, and federal contractor rule), as well as an update on significant developments on the state and local...more
Today's new episode summarizes the late-breaking developments with the 5th Circuit's extension of its stay of enforcement of the OSHA ETS, and the impact that today's Circuit Court lottery may have on the ultimate viability...more
11/17/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lottery ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Stays ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In today's new episode, Mike Schmidt breaks down the primary obligations under OSHA's new ETS on mandatory vaccination and testing, provides an update on current legal challenges, and suggests what employers should be doing...more
In today's episode, Michael Schmidt addresses one of the biggest challenges employers have faced with mandatory vaccine policies: religious-based accommodation requests. First, Mike summarizes the EEOC's latest update from...more
In today's episode, Michael Schmidt is joined by Dr. Christina Carson-Sacco, the co-founder of The Center for Neuropsychology and Counseling, to talk about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health of...more
In today's new episode, Michael Schmidt provides an update on the anticipated vaccine ETS from OSHA, the EEOC's latest guidance on vaccine incentives, the current obligations under the NY HERO Act, and whether sex addiction...more
On today's episode (the 100th!), Michael Schmidt talks about the latest developments with COVID-19 vaccines and mandatory vaccine policies, and is joined by his Cozen O'Connor colleague John Carrigan to discuss what...more
In today's new episode, Michael Schmidt discusses big new developments: updates on mandatory vaccine and mask policies, new action to ban non-competes, a big free speech decision, New York regulatory updates, and a proposed...more
Right at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, the EEOC issued new guidance on Covid-19 vaccine policies and incentive programs. Today's episode breaks down the Commission's answers to key questions and what it all means for...more
In today's new episode, Michael Schmidt talks about social media and schools (and what that means for employers generally), spousal claims against employers for getting COVID-19 at home, the withdrawal of the independent...more
5/17/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Health and Safety ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Regulations ,
Masks ,
Misclassification ,
New Guidance ,
Preemption ,
Public Schools ,
School Policies ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Media Policy ,
Spouses ,
Students ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
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
This episode addresses significant changes from OSHA and the DOL, the new and expanded FFCRA, and the first state to require paid leave to get vaccinated....more
3/22/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Today’s episode is the second of Mike Schmidt's two-part conversation with EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling (Part 1 released yesterday), who discusses the EEOC’s enforcement priorities, the increase in use of guidance and...more
Today's episode is the first of a two-part conversation with EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling, who discusses the EEOC's enforcement priorities, the increase in use of guidance and opinion letters, hot 2021 topics (including...more
In today's episode, Mike Schmidt is joined by his colleague and the Chair of Cozen O'Connor's OSHA Practice Group, John Ho, to talk about the new guidance (finally?) issued by OSHA on the Covid-19 pandemic. What did the...more
Like every February 1st since the inaugural episode on February 1, 2017, Mike Schmidt is joined by his colleague and the CEO of Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies, Howard Schweitzer, to reflect on the state of politics in DC...more
In this first new episode of the year, Mike Schmidt address the 21 employment law issues that employers should watch in 2021....more
In today’s new episode, Mike Schmidt addresses three quick hits for the holiday week: (1) the implications of Congress’ failure to extend the expiring FFCRA requirements; (2) a federal court preliminarily striking down...more
In today’s new episode, Michael Schmidt is joined by Andrew Howe, CPA (BerganKDV) and Steven Dickinson (Cozen O’Connor) to talk about the latest updates on the PPP loan process and requirements for businesses to apply for...more
In today’s episode, Michael Schmidt is joined by his Cozen O’Connor colleagues, David Barron and Howard Schweitzer, to discuss the latest political and employment law implications of employers requiring employees to get the...more