This week, the EEOC issued new guidance regarding pandemic-related caregiver discrimination. The EEOC assumes (probably rightly) that caregiving obligations are more likely to fall on women so discrimination against caregivers often looks like sex discrimination. While the updated guidance is specific to COVID-19, is it packed full of good practices to follow regardless of the
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Mandate, We Hardly Knew You: OSHA Withdraws Large Employer Vaccine Standard
As we all know, the Supreme Court stayed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees. As of today, OSHA has withdrawn that emergency temporary standard.
The announcement notes that:
Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS…
Everyone Loves a Good Deadline: Reporting Requirements for Early 2022
We hope your 2022 is off to a good start and you are all managing the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. For this post, we wanted to take a break from COVID-19-specific topics to remind you of some new year to dos. Specifically, EEO-1 and OSHA Injury and Illness Reporting data is due in the coming months,…
Supreme Court Leaves OSHA Vaccine/Testing Mandate with Uncertain Future
By now most people in the United States are aware that the Biden Administration wants everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccine and is using OSHA, CMS, and federal contracts to accomplish that goal. The OSHA path is an emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate that all employees…
The COVID-19 Home Game: Biden Administration Requires Insurance to Cover At-Home Tests
In light of the difficulty of test scheduling and concerns about costs to consumers, the Biden administration this week announced that the Department of Health and Human Services will require private health insurance and group health plans to cover the cost of over-the-counter, at-home tests purchased by individuals. That requirement will go into place on…
Decoding the CDC’s New Quarantine and Isolation Guidance for COVID-19
Despite all of our hopes and prayers for an end to the pandemic, we still have employees who are exposed to or testing positive for COVID-19, and we still need to figure out how to deal with those issues. The CDC issued new guidance on the length of time a non-healthcare employee must isolate or…
What More Can We Ask About COVID-19? EEOC Chimes In on If It Is a Disability Under the ADA
For almost two years now, employers have been tackling the issues surrounding COVID-19. Not surprisingly most questions centered on COVID-19-specific leave, OSHA reporting requirements, and vaccines. Now, the EEOC has chimed in on something that employers may not have yet considered: When does an employee’s COVID-19 become a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act?…
It’s Back (for Now Anyway): Sixth Circuit Dissolves Stay of OSHA ETS on Vaccines
In the ever-changing vaccine mandate legal tennis match, the Sixth Circuit on Friday entered an opinion lifting the Fifth Circuit’s stay of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 vaccines and testing. Companies with at least 100 employees will now (and again) have to put in place either a mandatory vaccine policy or a weekly testing…
Staying Current on the Stays, Updates on Federal Vaccine Mandates, and the Alabama Vaccine Exemption Law
As we are sure you have heard, many people are not all that psyched about the federal government mandating that employees get vaccinated. Just to keep everyone on the same page in these ever-changing times,…
Happy Thanksgiving and the Many Things for Which We Are Thankful – 2021 Edition
Many of us are understandably anxious to put another tumultuous year of the pandemic behind us. But before we sit down at the table to fill our plates and bellies to overflowing to celebrate the holiday, we can all find some bright, shining blessings in what has otherwise been another difficult year. We are grateful…