If you have an arbitration agreement, do you have to compel arbitration when the lawsuit is filed or can you wait awhile? This week, the Supreme Court concluded that a party litigating in federal court cannot later compel arbitration by arguing that the delay caused no harm or prejudice to the opposing party. If you
The saga of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) newly announced COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) continues. As you know, the ETS requires employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or weekly testing (with limited exceptions). OSHA has since announced that it has “suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of
As most employers already know, OSHA’s newly announced COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is set to take effect January 4, 2022, and will require, among other things, that workers at U.S. companies with at least 100 employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly. You can read more on the nuts and bolts of
The EEOC updated its very clearly titled, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” last week to provide some much needed guidance on COVID-19 vaccine issues. While the EEOC’s guidance is helpful, not surprisingly, it leaves open some questions. Section K of the
On March 2, 2021, President Biden announced that there will be enough COVID-19 vaccines for “every adult” in the United States by the end of May 2021. Given the current lack of vaccine availability, this announcement signals a light at the end of the tunnel for everyone, not the least of which are employers eager
In true 2020 style, this year’s general election was one for the history books. While the presidential race has been called in favor of President-Elect Joe Biden, the inevitable legal challenges are looming. Meanwhile, Georgia will be the site of two runoff elections in January – races that could decide which party controls the U.S.
In case you missed it, below are a few of the most recent employment law updates that may have gotten lost in the onslaught of the 24-hour news cycle.
While employers have (rightfully) spent recent months navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, another epidemic has quietly continued. Opioid use in the United
If you get COVID-19 at work, is it covered by workers’ compensation? Maybe. In Tallahassee, Florida, a school district denied a high school teacher’s COVID-19-related workers’ compensation claim. The reason? The district says he cannot prove he caught the virus while working. Meanwhile, it has been reported that thousands of federal employees have filed
This week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII — the main federal anti-discrimination law on the books — prohibits discrimination against employees who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT). The decision was 6-3, with Justice Neil Gorsuch writing for the majority.
The opinion is just under 120 pages long, with two
As states begin to ease COVID-19 restrictions and individuals start to determine their own levels of acceptable risk, employers face yet another set of issues related to getting employees back to work. After many of you quickly pivoted to remote work to comply with stay-at-home orders, you are now reverse-engineering solutions to a new problem: