The employment law blogs have been filled over the past two years with discussions about mandatory COVID-19 testing. However, not many employers have attempted to require employees to have their family members tested for...more
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires covered employers to provide employees with 60 days’ advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. WARN contains an exception from this notice...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) established a dual enforcement structure for inspections and citations for workplace safety issues. Either federal OSHA enforces the law, or states have the option of electing to...more
Over the past several weeks, employees have filed a number of class action claims in California alleging that their employers failed to pay expenses associated with their home working arrangements, in violation of state law....more
In general, employees who resign are not eligible to collect unemployment insurance benefits. In North Carolina as with most states, the unemployment compensation law contains an exception for workers who resign for “a good...more
A federal district court judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction blocking implementation of the White House’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for federal employees. The judge relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent...more
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration published notice of its withdrawal of its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) applicable to companies with 100 or more employees. The U.S. Supreme Court...more
Following its loss at the Supreme Court last week, one might expect the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to throw its hands up and abandon efforts to treat COVID-19 spread as a workplace safety concern. Early...more
One unfortunate consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is the need for some employees to take time from work due to the death of a parent or other close relative who passes away due to the virus. We have had questions from...more
Last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Biden administration’s motion to stay a lower court’s injunction against a COVID-19 vaccination mandate applicable to employees of federal contractors and...more
On January 13 in two highly anticipated decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court first reinstated an injunction blocking implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard...more
1/14/2022
/ Administrative Authority ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to an expedited review of legal challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to...more
12/30/2021
/ Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Authority ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On December 15, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially lifted a nationwide stay issued by a Louisiana federal district court that preliminarily enjoined the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from implementing its...more
On December 14, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updates to its technical assistance for employers dealing with employees who are recovering from COVID-19 infections. The EEOC previously stated that...more
On Tuesday, a federal district court in Georgia issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the mandatory vaccination provisions of executive order 14042 from taking effect. The order would have required employees of...more
On Tuesday, a Louisiana federal district court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing or enforcing regulations requiring employees of...more
12/6/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As reported in EmployNews, the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration previously announced that it would not implement the federal OSHA COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for health care...more
Assuming it takes effect at some point, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) includes new legal mandates, as well as several options for affected employers. Chief...more
11/19/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Masks ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a motion last week for a preliminary injunction filed by health care workers who object to a New York state COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The New York mandate contains medical...more
11/12/2021
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Public Health ,
Vaccinations
Buried in the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) is a reminder to employers about new alternative requirements for use of respirators to help control workplace...more
Most of the heat and light surrounding the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) involve the mandatory vaccination or test requirements. However, the rule contains a...more
Under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, states may elect to enforce their own health and safety programs in lieu of federal OSHA exercising enforcement authority. A number of states such as North Carolina and...more
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updates to its questions and answers guidance on the interplay between employer COVID-19 policies and federal anti-discrimination laws. While the revised guidance...more
With OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employers with 100 or more employees to be released shortly, a number of states have begun efforts to counter such mandates, or place additional...more
On Tuesday, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration disclosed that it has finished drafting its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) mandating either COVID-19 vaccinations or testing for all employers with 100...more