After federal workplace safety officials withdrew the emergency temporary standard that would have forced larger employers to either mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or require each unvaccinated worker to be tested each week,...more
2/3/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Policies ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Medical Records ,
OSHA ,
Record Retention ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Supreme Court blocked OSHA from enforcing the vaccine mandate-or-test ETS and the agency responded Tuesday by shelving the emergency rule altogether. In some ways, these two developments mean that the pathway for...more
In a surprise move, the Supreme Court failed to resolve either of the two pending workplace vaccine cases yesterday morning despite having announced a special decision day that led most Court observers to think that yesterday...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Supreme Court just blocked OSHA’s vaccine ETS from being enforced for the foreseeable future, meaning your compliance to-do list has gotten significantly shorter – but it has by no means disappeared. While today’s 6 to 3...more
In response to the ongoing Omicron wave of COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just updated its guidance to reduce, in most instances, both the length of time an individual must isolate after...more
12/29/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health and Safety ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Quarantine ,
Sick Employees ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In one of the more shocking developments in a year full of surprises, a federal appeals court breathed new life into the Biden administration’s mandate-or-test emergency vaccine rule with a stunning Friday afternoon decision....more
In a terse 22-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed its preliminary stay that blocked the mandate-or-test Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) late Friday, further complicating the status of...more
Citing potential “grave statutory and constitutional issues” with the mandate-or-test emergency vaccine rule unveiled by OSHA on Thursday, a federal appeals court just issued an order blocking the ETS from taking effect on a...more
Federal workplace safety officials just released the mandate-or-test workplace vaccine emergency rule, and employers are sure to have questions. The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) developed by the Occupational Safety and...more
11/5/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joint Employers ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Safety
The Department of Labor just took the next step in advancing President Biden’s vaccine mandate-or-test emergency rule, sending the Emergency Temporary Standard to the White House’s regulatory office late yesterday. Coming on...more
As part of his administration’s plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden recently announced a “six-pronged, comprehensive national strategy” to use every tool at his disposal to enforce vaccine and testing...more
In arguably the most far-reaching move of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration announced Thursday that federal workplace safety officials will soon issue a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more...more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just issued new guidance stating that coronavirus quarantines may be shortened to seven or 10 days under certain circumstances, down from the 14 days currently recommended,...more
New COVID-19 contract tracing procedures released by the federal government yesterday have expanded the category of individuals who are deemed to be in close contact with each other – and will complicate the already difficult...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more workplace law challenges over the past six months or so than many employers will see in a lifetime. From changing directives on wearing masks, determining what to do when an employee is...more
9/29/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Influenza ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Quarantine ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued constantly changing guidance for employers that many view as complex, confusing, and impractical. In its perplexing web of...more
8/18/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Notification Requirements ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The CDC and the U.S. Department of Labor just released interim guidance for all agriculture employers to provide an action template to protect agriculture workers from COVID-19. Primarily, the guidance addresses exposure risk...more
6/5/2020
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Health and Safety ,
Interim Guidance ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Sick Employees ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Employers are looking for better ways to monitor whether individuals entering their workplaces have been exposed to or are infected with COVID-19 – and the use of more sophisticated thermal scanning cameras or similar systems...more
Employers may be required to take the temperatures of employees when businesses begin to reopen in the coming days and weeks following the expiration of many states’ stay-at-home orders. Screening for fevers is a task never...more