At least according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in rejecting a doctor’s request for an order to reinstate him to his position at a hospital pending resolution of his discrimination lawsuit. In Halczenko v. Ascension Health, Inc., the doctor, who objected to the COVID vaccine […]

In the face of the COVID-19 emergency, employers are struggling with many questions about the impact in the workplace. This document provides answers to many Frequently Asked Questions. As this is a fast-moving and volatile situation, we will be constantly updating this document. New information as of March 27, 2020 will be shown in red.

Back in June 2021, OSHA issued a COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard for healthcare employers that was then withdrawn in December (as we discussed in our December 2021 E-Update), with its six-month duration acting as a comment period for a possible final rule. In the aftermath of its unsuccessful attempt to […]

On March 1, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission revised its What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and Other EEO Laws resource to add new Q&As about requests for religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Of significance are the following points: Employees Must Request […]

“Caregivers” (e.g. individuals who care for other family members) are not technically a protected class under current federal antidiscrimination law, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued new guidance and updated its “What You Should Know About COVID-19” resource on when it believes that discrimination against caregivers may implicate […]

In last month’s Top Tip, we noted that, even though the Vax-or-Test Emergency Temporary Standard is no more, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration can still hold employers liable for failing to protect workers from COVID-19 under existing safety standards. And now we remind you that state OSH agencies […]

Although COVID-19 is still very much present, we see improvement in the COVID-19 numbers, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now significantly eased their mask recommendations– although not entirely. Employers may wish to review their workplace masking requirements and other COVID-19 protocols in light of the […]

Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s attempt to issue a general workplace COVID standard was unsuccessful, employers should not assume that they are off the hook with regard to COVID preventative measures, as one company recently learned. The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a press release to announce […]

At this time, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ interim final rule requiring Medicaid and Medicare-certified healthcare providers to mandate vaccination against COVID-19 for all applicable staff (as discussed in our November 8, 2021 E-lert) is now in effect in all states. However, according to CMS, the enforcement deadlines […]

As of January 15, 2022, employer-sponsored group health plans (as well as insurance companies) are required to fully cover eight over-the-counter at-home tests per covered individual per month, as explained in DOL guidance. These tests must be for personal, and not employment, purposes. If ordered or administered by a health […]

[UPDATE – The DOL seems to have removed the fact sheet from its website – but we captured a printout. We also note that the fact sheet referenced the Vax-or-Test ETS as if it were still in existence; perhaps that’s why it was pulled. Be warned that the printout is […]

As predicted by most legal observers, a split U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100+ employees to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing/face coverings for their workforce. However, it has lifted the partial stay of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Interim Final Rule mandating […]

Throughout the pandemic, the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been constantly evolving to reflect changing circumstances. The latest development is a reduction in quarantine and isolation periods under certain circumstances, which will allow employers to bring employees back to work sooner than before and make […]

OSHA Withdraws the Healthcare ETS. The Healthcare ETS, which was promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) on June 21, 2021, has been largely withdrawn by OSHA.

A COVID-19 infection, in and of itself, is not necessarily a disability that triggers employee rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act – but there are circumstances when it can be, including for individuals experiencing long-term symptoms of COVID-19 (a condition with many names, such as “long COVID,” “post-COVID,” “long-haul […]

Throughout the pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has continuously updated its COVID-19 Guidance to provide employers with assistance on issues arising under the antidiscrimination laws that it enforces. This month the EEOC added a new section, simply reminding employers of the existing prohibition on retaliation against employees for exercising […]

On November 5, 2021, on the same day that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (the “ETS”), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule (the “CMS Vaccination Rule” or […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its guidance document, What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws, on October 13, 2021, to address vaccination developments and clarify certain issues. (On October 25, 2021, it also added a new section on Religious Accommodations, […]

In general, federal district courts have been rejecting challenges to employer vaccine mandates. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued one of the strongest decisions yet, upholding Maine’s requirement for all state healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The requirement permits only medical exemptions and was […]

As federal contractors know, President Biden issued an Executive Order requiring the insertion of a clause into certain new, renewed and extended contracts that mandates compliance with Guidance issued by Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. The Guidance, which was issued on September 24, 2021, requires the vaccination of most of […]

Many employers and employees alike believe that the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the employee’s vaccination information. It does not. In fact, the Privacy Rule does not apply to employee medical information in the employment context, as the U.S. Department of Health and […]

On October 25, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its guidance document, What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws, to address religious objections to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. In a new section to the guidance, the EEOC draws upon previously-existing guidance […]

The federal Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury issued joint FAQs that address questions regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and group health plans

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force released mandatory guidelines for federal contractors, implementing President Biden’s Executive Order requiring contractor employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (as discussed in our September 10, 2021 E-lert). Who Must Comply? Not all contractors are covered by the Guidance. First, the Guidance applies to certain […]

As many employers implement a COVID-19 vaccination-or-weekly-testing mandate (soon to be required of all employers with 100+ employees, as we discussed here), a recurring issue is whether the time that employees spend getting that weekly test must be paid under federal and state wage and hours laws.

An issue that we’ve run into recently is what to do about employees who are vaccinated – but not with one of the FDA-approved vaccines (whether under Emergency Use Authorization (Moderna and J&J) or regular approval (Pfizer-BioNTech))

On August 23, 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine received regular approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Moderna has submitted its application for regular approval, and it is expected that such approval is forthcoming shortly. With these developments, certain legal hesitation regarding vaccine mandates – including by employers – has fallen […]

And I’m pretty darned sure that many employers feel the same way. This issue has been coming up a lot lately with the burgeoning requests for medical exemptions in the context of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Trying to stay on top of federal workplace guidance on COVID-19 is confusing and challenging for employers, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has just changed the playing field again – although the new guidance is intended to conform with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) […]

On July 29, 2021, President Biden announced additional efforts to increase COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. Of interest to employers, these efforts include (1) reimbursements to small and medium-sized employers to provide paid leave for family member vaccinations; and (2) certain vaccine-related mandates applicable to on-site federal contractors, with the […]

As part of its statement commemorating the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Biden-Harris administration released a package of guidance and resources to support individuals experiencing long-term symptoms of COVID-19 (i.e. “Long COVID”). Among this is joint guidance from the Health and Human Service’s Office of Civil Rights […]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has released an opinion (originally prepared on July 6, 2021 for the Deputy Counsel to the President) definitively stating that the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) statute, under which current COVID-19 vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “does not prohibit entities […]

On June 10, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued updated guidance for businesses on COVID-19 prevention and mitigation – taking into account the impact of vaccinations – along with a long-awaited Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) applicable only to healthcare (which is not discussed in this E-lert). Of […]

Workplace guidance on COVID-19 keeps shifting at the federal and state level, which poses a challenge for all employers. For Maryland businesses, we thought it might be helpful to summarize where we stand as of early June 2021. Although Maryland remains in a state of emergency, at this time, the […]

As the COVID-19 vaccine has become freely available, employers have struggled with workplace vaccination protocols in the context of compliance with anti-discrimination laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. On May 28, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the […]

Among the new resources that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Accommodations Network (JAN) recently added to its COVID-19 webpage is included frequently asked questions on COVID-19 Long Haulers and the ADA. Many individuals are “long haulers,” meaning that they are experiencing lingering symptoms of COVID-19 – a condition known […]

The U.S. Department of Labor, through its Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)-funded Job Accommodations Network (JAN), has recently added a number of resources for employers on COVID-19 and reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act to its COVID-19 webpage. These include frequently asked questions on COVID-19 Vaccination and […]

As more employees are being vaccinated, some are experiencing adverse reactions significant enough to impact their ability to work. OSHA has now issued guidance on when such reactions should be treated as recordable events, in accordance with the obligation of many employers to record serious work-related illnesses and injuries. A […]

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has updated its COVID-19 and the Fair Labor Standards Act: Questions and Answers, initially issued in July 2020, to incorporate additional information that has become relevant as the pandemic has continued. As we originally discussed in our July 20, 2020 […]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has issued guidance for employers and employees navigating new and unexpected workplace challenges. The “Essential Worker, Essential Protection” initiative is the WHD’s latest action. As part of the initiative, WHD has taken the following actions: “Essential […]

This past month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a new national emphasis program and an Updated Interim Enforcement Plan as part of its efforts to address workplace safety issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. A national emphasis program is a temporary program focusing OSHA resources on particular hazards […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidance on workplace vaccination programs that reiterates and expands upon prior guidance on this topic, with the intent of increasing vaccine uptake among essential (and other) workers. According to the CDC, vaccinations benefit both employers and employees by keeping the […]

With case rates declining and COVID vaccine options expanding, five States as of March 8, 2021 have announced the end of all pandemic-driven restrictions, including mask mandates.

The CDC issued updated guidance on February 10, 2021, stating that, “Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19, but only if they have received both doses, it has been at least two weeks and not more than […]

So says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its  new guidance on workplace testing programs, which adds to its previous guidance, Testing Strategies: Considerations for Non-Healthcare Workplaces. In the new guidance, the CDC focuses on the need for informed consent for workplace testing by employees and discusses […]

With the COVID-19 vaccine finally becoming a reality, healthcare employers, who were first to receive the vaccine for distribution to their workforce, are addressing questions of how to implement vaccination programs. Other employers are thinking about these issues as well, in preparation for the time when vaccines are more widely […]

As distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine begins, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has modified its What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws resource to address the impact of federal non-discrimination laws on an employer’s vaccine requirements. Of particular interest, the EEOC […]

Back in April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance that permitted workers in critical infrastructure industries to continue working after exposure to COVID-19 (rather than quarantining) as long as they remained asymptomatic. The CDC has now revised its guidance to state that this should be used […]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued guidance identifying the violations of workplace standards most often found during COVID-related inspections, accompanied by a one-page summary identifying requirements that employers must follow. According to OSHA, the most frequently-cited standards include Respiratory Protection, Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Personal Protective Equipment and the General […]

With apologies to William Shakespeare, these past couple of weeks have been rather confusing, with two of the major federal agencies leading the battle against COVID-19 – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – issuing somewhat, well, inconsistent guidance on the […]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued new FAQs regarding the reporting of work-related COVID-19 cases, providing much-needed clarification to employers. Hospitalizations. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers must report (within 24 hours) hospitalizations that occur within 24 hours of a work-related incident. In the context of COVID-19, […]

In revising its definition of who is considered to be in “close contact” with a person infected with COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) significantly expanded the universe of individuals who might be required to self-isolate. This has an impact on whether exposed employees will be able […]

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Peter Robb released GC Memo 20-14 summarizing unfair labor practice charges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The memo addresses cases sent to the Agency’s Division of Advice and which the Agency has issued a complaint or directed further investigation. Below are some of […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its What You Should Know About Covid-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and Other EEO Laws resource to add Q&As about employers’ authority to require testing or ask questions about COVID-19 symptoms, confidentiality of COVID-19 diagnoses, and reasonable accommodations, as well as considerations […]

The surge in telecommuting during the COVID has raised many issues for employers, including compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL has issued guidance on telework pay that explains the legal standards applicable to the FLSA’s requirement to track and pay for employees’ hours worked, including remote workers. […]

On July 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued additional Q&A resources to provide guidance to employers on COVID-19-related issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). While much of the guidance reiterates general […]

As offices and other workplaces reopen, employers are struggling with the issue of masks and face coverings in the workplace. There has been much confusion about whether and when cloth face coverings are required, and what are an employer’s obligations with regard to their use. There is a distinction between […]

Several federal agencies have recently issued additional COVID-19 guidance of interest to employers, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Small Business Administration (SBA). We summarize these developments below. OSHA’s Guidance on Reopening for Non-Essential Businesses. On June 18, 2020, OSHA […]

Without fanfare on May 27, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance for employers of office workers (as well as updated guidance for restaurants and bars). This is the first guidance that is targeted at white collar workers, with the message that employers will need to […]

After initially easing its enforcement and recording rules in light of the COVID-91 pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reversed direction, with increased in-person workplace inspections and recording obligations. Revised Enforcement Guidance – On April 10, 2020, OSHA issued an Interim Enforcement Response Plan, setting forth the instructions and […]

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a lengthy document in support of the President’s Plan for Opening America Up Again, containing specific Interim Guidance documents for employers with high-risk workers, as well as for child care programs, schools, bars and restaurants, and mass transit. While all the guidance documents […]

Federal government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and many state and local governments have approved of the use of temperature screening as part of a business’s return-to-work strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses deciding to implement temperature screening are presented […]

Various federal agencies have recently issued additional COVID-19 guidance of significance (more or less) to employers, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the […]

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” resource to expand upon its guidance on some issues of concern to employers – reasonable accommodations and employee testing. Reasonable Accommodations. The Americans with Disabilities […]

The federal Department of Labor (DOL) issued new Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions and added to its extensive Questions and Answers resource for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). WARN Act and COVID-19. The DOL has provided additional guidance for employers navigating the […]

During the past week or so, various federal agencies have issued additional COVID-19 guidance of significance (more or less) to employers, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the […]