On January 13, the United States Supreme Court reinstituted a stay on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Emergency Temporary Standard (OSHA ETS), which mandates that employers with 100 or more employees require...more
1/17/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted a stay on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's "vaccination-or-test" Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), allowing the ETS to take...more
On December 6, New York City announced that beginning December 27 it would require all private employers to require their employees to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination before entering the workplace. Since the announcement,...more
On November 4, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its long-awaited Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that requires employers with 100 or more employees, among other things, to...more
On November 1, 2021, the Biden Administration issued several new frequently asked questions (FAQs) for federal contractors subject to the President’s executive order mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for covered contractor...more
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) has issued its guidance (Guidance) regarding the COVID-19 safety protocols that federal contractors must implement under President Biden’s recent Executive Order 14042. The...more
9/27/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 6, 2021, Governor Hochul declared COVID-19 as an “airborne infectious disease” thereby triggering the NY Hero Act. We previously wrote about how the NY Hero Act did not require immediate implementation since...more
Citing concerns about potential spread of the COVID-19 “Delta variant” and the fact that even fully vaccinated individuals infected with the Delta variant can spread COVID-19 to others, on July 27, 2021, the Centers for...more
On July 7, 2021, the New York Department of Labor (DOL) published the NY Hero Act airborne infectious disease exposure prevention standard (the Standard) and industry-specific model airborne infectious disease exposure...more
As we previously discussed, on May 5, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed the NY Hero Act (the Act) into law, codifying health and safety protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...more
On June 10, 2021, the same day that it released its long-anticipated COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for healthcare settings (which we discuss here), the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)...more
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released the first nationwide emergency workplace safety rule per President Joe Biden’s January executive order directing the agency to pursue an...more
On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its “What you should know about COVID-19” Frequently Asked Questions (the FAQs), answering questions many employers have had regarding COVID-19...more
On May 13, 2021, the CDC updated its guidance for fully vaccinated individuals (Vaccination Guidance), stating that fully vaccinated people (fully vaccinated means two weeks after receiving a second dose of the Moderna or...more
On April 21, 2021, both houses of the New York Legislature announced passage of the NY Hero Act, which will require employers to implement extensive new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19...more
4/29/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NYDOL ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety
On April 20, 2021, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its FAQs with guidance stating that employers who require their employees to get vaccinated as a condition of employment may need to...more
4/22/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On April 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh placed a “hold” on the implementation of a potential U.S. Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which would set...more
As employers are revising their return to work protocols in light of increased vaccination efforts and the prospect of increased on-site work, the federal government has been busy implementing additional COVID-19 safety...more
As employers are revising their return to work protocols in light of increased vaccination efforts and the prospect of increased on-site work, the federal government has been busy implementing additional COVID-19 safety...more
The New York State Legislature recently passed bills (Bill S2588A; A3354B) that would provide all public and private employees in New York with up to four hours of paid leave to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine. The legislation is...more
3/9/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 guidance to address COVID-19 vaccines in the workplace. The EEOC’s guidance implies that a mandatory workplace vaccination program...more
12/18/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
As employers across the country are implementing return to work procedures and are gradually opening up their workspaces, many employers were left with unanswered questions regarding what testing they may conduct prior to...more
As New York enters a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and New York businesses are beginning to reopen, New York is taking steps and providing tools to employers in an attempt to mitigate further spread of COVID-19....more
6/9/2020
/ Commercial Property Owners ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Executive Orders ,
Liability ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Retailers ,
Screening Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As New York enters a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and New York businesses are beginning to reopen, New York is taking steps and providing tools to employers in an attempt to mitigate further spread of COVID-19.
...more
On May 19, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Revised Enforcement Guidance (Guidance) requiring employers to investigate whether employee COVID-19 infections are “work-related” for the...more