The Employment Law Counselor

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) regulations on November 4, 2021, that will affect most employers in the United States. In brief, by December 5, 2021, all unvaccinated employees of businesses with 100 or more employees (the calculation is firm/corporate level, NOT per location) must wear masks indoors (including in a vehicle with another person for work purposes). By January 4, 2022, all businesses with 100 or more employees must ensure employees are fully vaccinated or subject to regular testing at least weekly (which can be at the employee’s own expense, though collective bargaining agreements may require employers to pay for such tests). The new regulations are expected to cover more than 80 million employees.Continue Reading

One of the more challenging issues for employers seeking to roll out mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies has been the administration of requests for religious accommodations. Just before the new OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard regarding mandatory COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing was announced, the EEOC issued a new update to its Technical Assistance on COVID-19 that provides guidance and assistance on the thorny issue of religious accommodations to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements.Continue Reading

Last month, the EEOC filed a first of its kind lawsuit in federal court in Georgia based on an employer’s denial of an accommodation request to work from home. In the suit, the employee, a former health and safety manager at a facility services company, alleged that at the start of the pandemic, she requested to work from home as an accommodation for her chronic obstructive lung disease and hypertension. Shortly after her request, the company directed its employees to work from home four days per week. In June 2020, the company required that all staff to return to in-person work at the facility five days per week.Continue Reading

On September 18, 2021, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidelines for Quarantine and Isolation (Guidance) with respect to the COVID-19 virus. For purposes of the Guidance, “quarantine” is the appropriate response if a person may have been exposed to the virus, while “isolation” is the response for a person infected with the virus, even with no symptoms. With the expected issuance of workplace guidelines (and governmental mandates usually based on CDC Guidance) keeping informed of the changes and updates will be critical for employers as employees return to office workspace.Continue Reading