On July 27, 2021, the CDC reversed course from its previous guidance and issued a recommendation that everyone, including fully vaccinated individuals, wear masks in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high...more
Michigan workplace safety authorities just released their highly anticipated revised Emergency Rules that streamline employer’s duties when it comes to responding to COVID-19-related concerns and better reflect the most...more
On May 20, 2021, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced an acceleration of the “Vacc to Normal” plan. The acceleration takes place as Whitmer reported more Michiganders have received vaccines and the CDC announced...more
Just before the New Year, Governor Whitmer amended state law and eased employers’ COVID-19 compliance burdens by deferring to the CDC’s guidance on when infected or exposed employees may return to work. The amendment was...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
October has brought a weekly flurry of changes to Michigan’s COVID-19 legal landscape. On Thursday October 22, 2020, Governor Whitmer added to this recent activity by signing three bills into law that provide employers with...more
Michigan just passed four new COVID-19 bills touching on workplace safety, employee protections, and legal immunity for businesses – and employers will need to be sure to stay on top of state rules if they want to avoid...more
In the past week, two Michigan administrative agency directors have issued emergency regulations to fill in for Governor Whitmer’s now-invalidated COVID-19 executive orders. The emergency regulations largely mirror Governor...more
The Michigan Supreme Court issued a bombshell opinion last Friday invalidating all of Governor Whitmer’s executive orders since April 30, 2020, including those covering workplace safety standards, unemployment benefits, and...more
The Supreme Court’s decision does not mean that businesses and individuals in Michigan may return to pre-COVID-19 behavior or ignore Executive Order standards which have an independent legal basis. Employers, businesses, and...more
Governor Gretchen Whitmer just issued an executive order that limits the availability of job-protected leave moving forward only to those employees who pose a “particular risk of infecting others with COVID-19.” She did this...more
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer just lifted the state’s shelter-in-place order, permitting certain businesses to reopen under a specified timetable and operate subject to specific workplace safety requirements. Meanwhile,...more
Consistent with her goal to gradually reopen businesses in the state while continuing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Executive Order (EO) 2020-77 permits some businesses to resume...more
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-70, which expanded the industries that may perform in-person work under the state’s shelter-in-place order that is slated to end on May 15, 2020. The new order’s...more
On April 3, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-36 declaring that individuals permitted to go to work pursuant to the Governor’s current stay-at-home order Executive Order 2020-21 must stay home when either...more
On March 23, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an Executive Order requiring all individuals currently living in the State of Michigan to stay home or at their place of residence, and prohibiting private...more
On Friday, March 13, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive directive (the “Directive”) related to Michigan’s Open Meetings Act (“OMA”), MCL 15.261 et seq. The Directive, No. 2020-2, sets forth three specific...more
With 53 presumptive-positive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan as of March 15, Michigan is taking proactive steps to reduce transmission of the virus. Below is a brief synopsis of what employers need to...more