July 2021

Hundreds of colleges and universities across the country, both public and private, have issued policies requiring students be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to the start of the fall semester. In the first court case to address a challenge to a university’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, the Northern District of Indiana denied a preliminary injunction motion…

Public schools and universities are barred from requiring vaccines that have not received full U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval under Ohio House Bill 244 (HB 244), signed by Governor Mike DeWine on July 14, 2021. The new law goes into effect on October 13, 2021. Read more about this new Ohio law here

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced an 18-month extension and re-designation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through March 17, 2023.

The Secretary stated, “Three decades of conflict in Somalia, along with natural disasters and disease outbreaks, have worsened an already severe humanitarian crisis.” Somalia has been dealing with violence, drought,…

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program (DACA) is not legal, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen has ruled in State of Texas et al. v. U.S. et al.

Judge Hanen issued an injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from accepting new DACA applications. However, recognizing the substantial reliance interests involved, he allowed…

On June 17th the Cal/OSHA Standards Board passed amended COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards, which were intended to bring consistency between the California Department of Public Health mask guidance and Cal-OSHA’s workplace requirements.

However, since the passage of the amendments, several counties, including Los Angeles County, have seen a rise in COVID-19 cases. In…

Several months after Governor Newsom signed into law a statewide right of recall statute affecting the hospitality industry and building services, the Labor Commissioner’s office finally issued a Frequently Asked Questions page.

The FAQs clarify that an acceptance by an employee of an offer must be delivered to the employer within 5 business days,…

In Virginia, returning — or planning to return — to the physical workplace following the COVID-19 pandemic means ensuring employment practices comply with the Commonwealth’s significantly changing legal landscape. Read more.

While Washington state reopened on June 30 with the new Washington Ready plan, under which most industries have returned to normal capacity and operations, this reopening has loosened, but not eliminated, COVID-19 safety and masking requirements for employees and customers.

New Masking Guidelines and Requirements

As part of the reopening plan, the governor issued Updated…

The Oregon legislature has temporarily amended Oregon’s Equal Pay Act to allow employers latitude to both encourage COVID-19 vaccinations and to attract new employees as the state emerges from COVID-19 business restrictions. Under the revised statute, when evaluating whether employees who perform work of comparable character are paid equitably, a comparison of employee compensation…