Many things have an expiration date - cheese, meat, medicine, certain fashion choices, but some things linger well past their “use by” date – like three-week-old takeout in the very back corner of your refrigerator. During...more
10/21/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Identity Theft ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workers’ Compensation ,
Workplace Safety
We are fast approaching winter, and the Iowa Department of Public Health will be regularly announcing flu rates and weather alerts will be blaring at us weekly. And like your car, you may need to winterize your employee...more
10/19/2022
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Workplace Safety
As everyone knows, the sequel is almost always messier than the original. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is no exception. On July 12, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 guidance, taking already complicated...more
9/7/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Businesses operating in Iowa need to take into consideration both the Federal WARN Act, which applies to companies with 100 or more employees, as well as the Iowa Layoff Notification Law, or the Iowa Mini-WARN, which applies...more
7/7/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Notice Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act
Q: The cost of PPE for our employees is starting to get really expensive. Can we deduct the cost of the PPE from their wages? ...more
Q: I want to encourage my employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and other vaccines such as the flu. Can I offer different sick leave banks to those who are vaccinated?...more
At the time of this posting, the Biden administration has rescinded the OSHA ETS on vaccines for employers of 100 plus employees. The federal contractor rules remain stayed as litigation continues to work its way through...more
1/28/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Last week the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new omnibus regulations relating to facility-mandated COVID-19 vaccine programs. The regulation covers a wide array of healthcare providers including...more
Q: I’m a health care facility under the new CMS vaccine guidelines. We have a lot of volunteers who come through. Do they need to be vaccinated?...more
On October 13, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued several updates to its Q&A relating to COVID-19 and vaccinations - What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and...more
11/5/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Our health care facility has just started mandating vaccines and we are finding that a number of our employees have misplaced their vaccine cards. Our facility is an authorized user of IRIS (Immunization Registry Information...more
President Biden’s announcement of the “Path out of the Pandemic” should not have come as a complete surprise to employers given the various previous announcements including mandating vaccines for federal employees, the OSHA...more
Communications from the CDC during the coronavirus pandemic have sometimes been difficult to understand or apply in practical circumstances, and there is no Rosetta Stone to decipher their meaning. Additionally, CDC...more
One of President Biden’s initial signature pieces of legislation - The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 - creates a significant number of changes to or continuations of programs that were available to both businesses and...more
On February 25, 2021, the US Department of Labor issued guidance for state-based unemployment compensation programs. The guidance addresses the concern that some workers lose unemployment compensation benefits if they refuse...more
During his campaign, President Biden indicated consistently that he would work rapidly to provide additional Coronavirus protections and he delivered on that promise in two Executive Orders signed on his first and second days...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, questions regarding when employees may or may not travel, how to assess temperature checks at the front door, and a wide array of other issues have continued to crop up. Whenever an employer...more
At the beginning at the pandemic, OSHA issued an interim requirement that all COVID-19 cases be logged on an employer’s 300 Log. This requirement was different than the standard for communicable diseases such as Influenza A...more
Q: I have several employees who work for more than one employer. Should I be worried about their potential COVID-19 exposure in some other workplace?...more
Q: The CDC has recommended that we take the temperature of residents and visitors to our long-term care facility. We are fine to do that but what do we do with that information?...more
3/19/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) ,
Biometric Information ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Response ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Policies and Procedures
Q: Given that there is coronavirus in several places in the United States, can I take the temperature of every employee when they walk in the door?
A: The answer to this question is industry-specific. The EEOC issued...more
The news is full of both images and stories about coronavirus/COVID-19 and the toll it’s taking in China. With increased activity in the United States and travel restrictions, as well as some U.S. citizens being quarantined,...more
2/24/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Premises Liability ,
Traveling Employee ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workplace Hazards
Q: Can I require that my employee get vaccinated?
A: This question most frequently comes up in relationship to the flu vaccine but, with the national focus on measles, this question has also been asked more broadly...more