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For more than two and a half years, employers across the country have navigated a nuanced web of legal requirements and guidance to safely operate during the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Recent updates to the legal landscape at the federal, state, and local level, however, have left many employers asking: is the COVID-19 pandemic finally over? For now, the answer remains “no.” This post discusses three key reasons why employers should continue to operate with the pandemic in mind.
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Continue Reading Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Over? For Employers, Not Yet

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As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we look at a range of developments shifting the enforcement approach across federal agencies and how employers can comply with these shifts.
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Continue Reading Video: Independent Contractor Rule Reinstated, OFCCP Targets Pay Equity Audits, OSHA Focuses on Health Care Facilities – Employment Law This Week

On January 26, 2022, the City and County of San Francisco released an updated Health Order No. C19-07y (the “Updated Health Order”), which addresses a number of rules issued in an effort to combat continued spread of COVID-19, including changes in exemptions to the universal indoor mask mandate.  Specifically, effective February 1, 2022, the Updated Health Order renews a previously-suspended masking exemption for vaccinated workplaces, with a few significant changes.

First, under the revised mask exemption, only employees who are “Up to Date” on vaccination (see below for definition) may go unmasked in the workplace, assuming the other conditions for the exemption are met.  Other individuals must wear masks at all times, subject to limited exceptions (e.g., alone, while eating).  Further, consistent with the Cal/OSHA definition of an outbreak, this exemption only applies if there have been no outbreaks (currently defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in an “exposed group” within a 14-day period) in the past 30 days.…

Continue Reading Mask On, Mask Off? San Francisco Again Revises Its Rules for Universal Face Coverings

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As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we look at how state and local COVID-19 requirements and new COVID-19 benefits are shifting employers’ policies once again.
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Continue Reading Video: SCOTUS OSHA Decision Reactions and the Impact of New COVID-19 Benefits on Employers – Employment Law This Week

As explained in greater detail by our colleague Stuart M. Gerson, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down two major, and quickly decided, rulings on January 13, 2022. After hearing oral arguments only six days earlier, the Court issued two unsigned decisions per curiam. A 5-4 decision in Biden v. Missouri dissolved a preliminary injunction against enforcement of an interim final rule (“Rule”) promulgated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), requiring recipients of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding to ensure that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.
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Continue Reading SCOTUS Permits CMS Health Care Vax Rule but Rejects OSHA Vax-or-Test ETS for Large Employers

On the evening of Wednesday, December 22, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it will hold a special session on January 7, 2022, to hear oral argument in cases concerning whether two Biden administration vaccine mandates should be stayed. One is an interim final rule promulgated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”); the other is an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”).  The CMS interim final rule, presently stayed in 24 states, would require COVID-19 vaccination for staff employed at Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and suppliers. The OSHA ETS, which requires businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure that workers are vaccinated against the coronavirus or otherwise to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, was allowed to take effect when a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, to which the consolidated challenges had been assigned by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, issued a ruling on December 17, 2021, lifting a stay that had been previously entered by the Fifth Circuit. Multiple private sector litigants and states immediately challenged the decision.
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Continue Reading Supreme Court Grants Rare Hearing on Stays in Vaccine Mandate Cases

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Important guidance regarding COVID-19 testing in the workplace was recently issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) in the form of Frequently Asked Questions regarding Over the Counter (“OTC”) Home Testing and CLIA Applicability.

CMS regulates clinical laboratory testing pursuant to the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (“CLIA”). Generally, a laboratory or clinical setting (such as a physician’s office) must obtain CLIA certification to perform laboratory testing. Some OTC tests, however, are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for home use and the new FAQs address the use of OTC home tests in the workplace.…

Continue Reading New Guidance Clarifies Requirements for Onsite Workplace COVID-19 Testing

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As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) vaccine emergency temporary standard (ETS) is currently in the hands of the Sixth Circuit, while New York employers have several updates to look out for in 2022.
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Continue Reading Video: OSHA ETS Moves to the Sixth Circuit, Federal Agencies Join to Combat Workplace Retaliation, NY Increases Employee Protections – Employment Law This Week

On Friday, November 12, 2021, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a strongly worded decision granting a motion to prevent the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from implementing or enforcing the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that went into effect on November 5, 2021. Among other things, the ETS mandates that employers with 100 or more employees require that their workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to precautions like regular testing and using face coverings. However, the Fifth Circuit ordered OSHA to take no action to implement or enforce the ETS until further court order.
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Continue Reading Circuit Court Stays Enforcement of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard and OSHA Complies—More Developments Anticipated This Week

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, the Biden administration has finally released the COVID-19 vaccine mandate rules for employers with 100 or more employees, and the challenges started right away.

Employers Face December, January Vaccine ETS Deadlines

On November 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its much-anticipated Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).…