Employers in the healthcare setting have been grappling with issues related to COVID-19 vaccinations that raise many practical and legal questions, starting with: should we ask about vaccination status? Should we require employees to be vaccinated? If not required, should we encourage employees to be vaccinated? How should we encourage it? Identifying these questions is
Summer Is Here: International Vacation Travel During a Pandemic
International travel during the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging, but conditions are finally improving. Many Americans are now vaccinated against COVID-19. The latest CDC reporting indicates 50.9% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose and more than 41% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated.
Many international destinations are planning
OSHA Promulgates Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 for Healthcare Employers
Fifteen months after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has promulgated an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for healthcare employers. OSHA has published voluntary guidance for other industries.
To read this article in full, please click here.
Cal/OSHA Standards Board Reverses Course on ETS Amendment
In an emergency meeting on June 9th, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board reversed itself and voted to withdraw the amended COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) it had just approved on June 3rd. As such, employers will remain governed by the ETS that was passed in November 2020.
The emergency meeting was held so
J-1 Visas and Summer Workers
As several cities are allowing businesses to resume their operations to pre-pandemic levels, many employees are being called back to on-site work. Thankfully, schools have been welcoming children for in-person learning for several months now, and parents are hoping to send them to summer camps. Approximately 26 million American children attend summer camps in a
Ready or not, back to the workplace we might go…
Before the pandemic hit, remote work was, in most cases, a thing of the future. Concern about the productivity of remote workers caused many employers to resist these arrangements. Employees, they thought, would rather be taking care of laundry or kids than taking care of their duties. Enter Covid-19 – and most employers around the
New York Updates COVID-19 Guidance Including Daily Health Screening Requirements
On June 8, 2021, New York State updated the NY Forward Guidance for several industries, including office-based and food services employers, with changes that many people feel are overdue.
In addition to incorporating updated mask, physical distancing, and capacity rules that have been in place since New York adopted the Centers for Disease Control and
EEOC Hosts Virtual Hearing on Civil Rights Implications of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Workplace
In its first all-virtual/remote video-cast hearing, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) discussed workplace civil rights implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for employees and employers. (Transcript of the April 28, 2021 hearing is available here.) During the hearing, Chairwoman Charlotte Burrows acknowledged that the EEOC must help employers navigate the new workplace landscape created
California Court of Appeal Provides Potential Guidance for Right of Recall Ordinances
Before 2020, the City of Santa Monica was one of a handful of cities that had a right of recall ordinance. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, many local governments enacted right to recall ordinances to return displaced workers to their prior positions. Recently, the state joined these local governments, passing SB 93 relating
Cal/OSHA Passes Amended COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard – What Changed?
On May 20, 2021, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board (“Board”) delayed a vote on proposed changes to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”). At that time, the Board claimed they would revise the ETS to address updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) for fully vaccinated persons. However, the revised ETS passed