Last week, a federal judge in Texas blocked a presidential executive order that sought to require COVID-19 vaccination for federal workers. But the decision isn’t a game-changing blockbuster. Trump appointee Jeffrey Vincent Brown has served as a district court judge in the Southern District of Texas since September of 2019. He ruled that the order’s […]
An employer might want all its workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. But it must sometimes yield to the requirement that it accommodate legitimate requests for a religious exemption. Employers that don’t allow for such requests to be made – or don’t evaluate them properly – can quickly find themselves smack in the middle of […]
With the current COVID-19 surge, more people are needing tests than ever before. The high demand has made COVID-19 tests difficult to come by, and many are forced to wait hours just to be tested. At-home COVID-19 tests are a more convenient (though less accurate) option for people struggling to secure a testing appointment, and […]
Good news, employers. If you have an employee who tested positive for COVID-19 but isn’t showing symptoms, they can come back to work sooner now, according to updated guidance from the CDC. The recommended isolation time for COVID-19-positive people used to be 10 days, regardless of whether the person had symptoms or not. But in […]
After several employees filed an injunction claiming United Airlines’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate failed to accommodate workers wanting an exemption, a Texas federal judge dismissed the case. The lawsuit claimed employees were retaliated against for seeking exemptions, which the judge also ruled wasn’t true. Here’s a breakdown of the case. ‘Irreparable harm’ When United Airlines announced […]
Though COVID-19 case numbers are dropping, employers are still dealing with workers seeking exemptions from vaccine requirements. And one popular reason for refusing the vaccine is due to religious beliefs. Employers have to tread carefully as to not violate the Civil Rights Act — but they also can’t just grant a religious exemption to anyone […]
Last week we told you about some of the updates the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) made to its Technical Assistance Questions and Answers on COVID-19 testing and vaccine in the workplace on July 12. We promised you a part two, and here it is. Return to the workplace G.2. How should employers respond […]
With more employers enacting mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies — and OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring many companies to have these policies in place by January — some employees are going to extreme measures to get out of it. Many workers try to avoid vaccination mandates by citing religious beliefs or medical conditions that prevent […]
An employee who is fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine – without showing entitlement to a legitimate religious or disability-related exemption – is likely to have a hard time collecting unemployment compensation benefits, two recent court rulings show. Though each state sets its own specific eligibility guidelines, these two rulings from Minnesota hinge […]
Throughout the pandemic, employers have been unsure whether employees need to be compensated for time spent receiving the COVID-19 vaccine or getting tested. Fortunately, new DOL guidance under the FLSA was released to clear up this confusion. FLSA rules Employers already know the FLSA requires them to pay employees for all hours worked. This means […]
Mask mandates are being lifted all over the country. Now, employers must ask themselves, “With the latest COVID-19 variant (BA.2) being 30% to 50% more contagious than Omicron (BA.1), is it safe to do this?” After all, it’s their responsibility to keep their employees safe. Currently, BA.2 accounts for nearly 55% of all new infections in the […]
A New Mexico federal judge refused to block a vaccine mandate for certain workers from going into effect. The court said data show the vaccines are safe and effective. It also said the vaccines provide immunity that “is significantly more robust than natural immunity gained following infection.” Right now, the Delta variant causes almost all […]
A new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, has been detected, and is very likely to start cropping up in the United States. In order to get on top of the spread, the CDC has issued an update on Omicron. It’s important for employers to familiarize themselves with the new variant in order to protect the workplace more […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) made waves ever since it announced its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which would require businesses with a hundred or more employees to implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Since the ETS announcement, there has been legal pushback. Most recently, the 5th Circuit temporarily suspended OSHA’s ETS, saying that OSHA “claimed […]
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