On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published revised COVID-19 guidance to help employers identify risks and determine appropriate control measures to protect workers from COVID-19 exposure. The guidance entitled, "Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace" “(the “Guidance”) is not mandatory, but it is likely a precursor to enforcement standards that are also under review by OSHA.
On his first full day in office, President Biden directed OSHA to issue this revised ...
On January 20, 2021, Mayor Jim Kenney signed legislation amending the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance, which prohibits covered employers from procuring, considering, or otherwise using a job applicant’s or employee’s credit-related information in connection with hiring, discharge, tenure, promotion, discipline, or consideration of any other term, condition, or privilege of employment with respect to such employee or applicant.
The amendment, which takes effect on February 20, 2021, expands the scope of covered employers to include financial institutions and ...
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we look at leadership changes and new religious guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
On his first day in Office, President Biden issued Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” (“Executive Order”), stating that “[i]t is . . . the policy of [his] Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all.” The Executive Order revokes President Trump’s Executive Order 13950, which had imposed restrictions on workplace diversity training under the guise of combatting race and sex stereotyping.
As we reported in our ...
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: In early January, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued proposed rules on using incentives to encourage employee participation in wellness programs. While we don’t know exactly how President Biden’s EEOC will adjust the proposed rules, attorney Frank Morris explains why employers should keep the rules in mind when offering incentives to employees for COVID-19 vaccination. Read more.
On January 21, 2021, in an effort to provide enforcement of more stringent worker safety standards, President Biden issued an Executive Order (‘EO”) on Protecting Worker Health and Safety. The EO specifically orders the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the Department of Labor to:
- issue, within two weeks of the date of the EO, revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- consider whether any emergency temporary standards on COVID-19, including with respect to masks in the workplace, are necessary, and if such ...
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) which modifies or extends to March 14, 2021 many of the relief programs first created in March 2020 by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), including three expanded unemployment insurance benefits programs (which we previously blogged about here) and a new benefit program for “mixed earners”. We provide here a summary of the updates to those programs.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
The CAA includes a modified version of the Federal Pandemic ...
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, President Biden takes office, making combatting COVID-19 his top priority. Employers are also planning ways to incentivize employee vaccination.
Many employers have established wellness programs to promote employee health and, in doing so, help counter the ever increasing costs associated with employer-sponsored health benefit plans. Often employers want to establish programs that provide employees with incentives to achieve certain health outcomes, such as smoking cessation or weight loss. Employers must exercise caution in creating such health-contingent wellness programs, which necessarily require employees to disclose health information, because the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the ...
On January 14, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden released his $1.9 trillion emergency stimulus plan, designed primarily to guide the country through the next medical and economic stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) also includes non-COVID-19 related proposals, such as a mandatory $15 per hour minimum wage and funding to improve cybersecurity.
The following is a non-comprehensive overview of the ARP, which will require Congressional legislative passage.
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Recent Updates
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