A new COVID-related bonus from the State of Minnesota is coming “to thank those Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.” Certain employers who employed frontline workers in Minnesota...more
On May 30, 2022, Politico published an article with the headline: America’s Hospital Regulator Wasn’t Designed for a Pandemic.” The crux of the article: “[T]he Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is ill-equipped to...more
On Thursday, January 13th, in Joseph R. Biden et al., v. Missouri, et al., the United States Supreme Court released its decision lifting the injunctions imposed by two District Courts that had enjoined enforcement of the...more
On Friday, January 07, 2022, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a rule promulgated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) requiring healthcare workers at specific facilities participating...more
1/11/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Injunctions ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
SCOTUS ,
Secretary of HHS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On December 15, 2021, in State of Louisiana et al. v. Xavier Becerra, et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Fifth Circuit) effectively revived the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Interim Final...more
On November 29, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (Missouri court) issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing and...more
Surprise! Monday morning a federal court in Missouri has ordered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) not to enforce the vaccine mandate in these states:...more
On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued an Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (ETS). The ETS covers employers...more
11/16/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Mandates ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
What is the latest on vaccine mandates? In this episode, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske is joined by colleague Tom O’Day to discuss the newly released OSHA and CMS rules. They'll uncover the surprises, discuss how to...more
11/12/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On November 9, 2021, Husch Blackwell’s Labor and Employment practice group shared with the attendees of the 2021 Wisconsin Labor & Employment Virtual Series breaking news regarding Wisconsin state law and COVID-19 testing....more
On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an advance copy of the Interim Final Rule (IFR) related to COVID-19 vaccines for most of the entities covered by applicable Conditions of...more
11/5/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Documentation ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
Key Points-
•HF 902 was signed into law on October 28, 2021 and requires employers to issue vaccine waivers to employees who: 1) refuse to receive a COVID-19 vaccine requirement and 2) submit a statement that the vaccine...more
On Wednesday, October 27, 2021, in a vote of 64-52 the Illinois House passed an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (Act) that would allow employers to enforce work rules and policies relating to...more
For the past 18 months, employers have faced a dizzying number of new laws, regulations and employment issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest announcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates by the White House on...more
President Biden’s September 9, 2021 Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors, directs the federal Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (“Task Force”) to develop COVID-19 workplace...more
9/28/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Documentation ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Joe Biden ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Religious Exemption ,
Service Contract Act ,
Social Distancing ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations
Husch highlights
•On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a new vaccine mandate for healthcare workers employed at most Medicare- and Medicaid-certified facilities; continued participation in Medicare and Medicaid...more
9/21/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Funding ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Interim Rule ,
Joe Biden ,
Masks ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Title VII requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee whose sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance conflicts with a work requirement, unless providing the accommodation would...more
8/26/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Masks ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Exemption ,
Social Distancing ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations
On June 28, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a new directive that establishes a change in its inspection and enforcement procedures to facilitate the uniform enforcement of OSHA’s...more
As more businesses begin to reintegrate employees into their pre-pandemic workplaces, many of our clients have questions regarding return-to-work issues. In this edition of Funny You Should Ask, we address three questions...more
3/23/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Incentives ,
OSHA ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
September was another busy month as hospices and other providers try to keep pace with the government’s constantly evolving rules and standards around various COVID-19 federal relief programs. In this episode of Hospice...more
In today’s COVID-19 edition of the Hospice Labor and Employment Trends series, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske talks with colleague Tom O’Day about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). As one of Husch...more
COVID-19 presents a formidable health and safety challenge to employers, and unionized employers also must address issues in the context of their obligations under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and a collective...more