The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was signed into law on December 29, 2022, and will become effective as of June 27, 2023, generally will require employers to accommodate pregnant applicants and employees...more
On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new proposed rule that is more aligned with judicial precedent than a previous proposal regarding whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor...more
On March 14, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a technical assistance document, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Caregiver Discrimination Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws, which...more
On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two significant opinions: In Nat’l Fed. of Independent Business v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the Occupational...more
1/17/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on November 4, 2021, issued its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to choose between (1) implementing a mandatory...more
On Friday, November 12, 2021, in BST Holdings, L.L.C, et al. v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Case # 21-60845, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order affirming its...more
Today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that requires employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that their employees who report to a workplace are...more
As COVID-19 vaccine mandates by employers become more common, so do requests for exemptions. Requests for religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates have forced many employers to make difficult decisions regarding...more
On Saturday, June 12, 2021, a Texas District Court ordered dismissal of a lawsuit brought by over 100 employees of the Houston Methodist Hospital who claimed they were subjected unlawfully to a COVID-19 vaccination policy as...more
Finally, the time is at hand when many employers may safely resume on-site work for most or all employees. But knowing now how effectively many employees can work remotely, organizations are rethinking workforce management...more
Faegre Drinker previously reported on one of the first lawsuits challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. As employers continue to evaluate employee vaccination, another lawsuit has been filed in the Central District of...more
As COVID-19 vaccines become more widely accessible, and certain localities relax COVID-19 restrictions, employers hoping to ramp up on-site operations or reduce absenteeism face a new challenge: navigating employee...more
3/9/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
While many workplaces are settling into a COVID-19 groove of social distancing, masks and sanitizer, we now find ourselves on the cusp of flu season in the United States. Employers may wish to encourage employees to get flu...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued revisions to its Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) paid leave rules on Friday, in response to a New York federal court ruling that struck down portions of the original rule...more
On August 24, 2020, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL) published guidance addressing employer obligations to track employee hours while teleworking. The DOL emphasized that though the guidance is...more
With the COVID-19 emergency impacting employers’ operations and the way employees work, more and more employees may start taking to social media to vent their opinions about work and current events (sometimes intertwining the...more
As government authorities look to implement business reopening measures, employers are now planning to move employees back into the workplace as state and local stay-at-home orders expire and other COVID-19 business...more
6/4/2020
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Workplace Safety
As government authorities look to implement business reopening measures, employers are now planning to move employees back into the workplace as state and local stay-at-home orders expire and other COVID-19 business...more
Updated as of April 8, 2020 -
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed into law on March 18, 2020, and took effect on April 1, 2020. The FFCRA provides temporary relief to eligible employees affected...more
On March 27, 2020 the House passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) – the largest stimulus package in U.S. history – in response to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The...more
3/31/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Retention ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Loans ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business ,
Tax Credits ,
Unemployment Benefits
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed into law on March 18, 2020, and will go into effect on or before April 2, 2020. The FFCRA creates obligations for many employers to provide temporary relief to...more
As the coronavirus continues to spread, employers should continually evaluate whether their prevention and response efforts are sufficient and appropriately tailored based on the latest information on the virus and their own...more
New guidance issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the United States has advised that employers may measure employees’ body temperature given that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...more
Update: On the evening of March 18, 2020, the President signed this bill into law.
Earlier this week we detailed Congress’ second sweeping legislative package in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Since then, the House of...more
Early in the morning on Saturday, March 14, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congress’ second sweeping legislative package in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, with a bipartisan 363-40 vote. The legislation,...more