OSHA COVID-19 ETS

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In the past two years, California lawmakers have focused their efforts on resolving the negative effects of COVID-19 and its variants, placing primary responsibility on employers. Several laws were recently enacted that impact employers in the context of workers’ compensation, workplace safety, and particularly, paid sick leave. California’s paid sick leave laws are daunting. The laws have become increasingly complex with unclear requirements. The following is a summary of the major paid sick leave laws including some of the compliance issues:
Continue Reading The California 2022 Trifecta of Paid Sick Leave Laws: Employers Beware

Late Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an Order and Opinion lifting the stay that previously had been entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which had prevented the OSHA COVID-19 emergency technical standard (the “ETS”) that applied to employers with 100 or more employees from going into effect. This reversal puts many employers in the position of having to immediately restart compliance efforts that may have been paused during the pendency of the stay.
Continue Reading On Again; Sixth Circuit Lifts Stay on OSHA COVID-19 ETS

Nearly two months after President Biden unveiled his COVID-19 Action Plan, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that requires all employers with at least 100 employees to establish, implement, and enforce a written policy mandating that each employee either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing and wear face coverings indoors. OSHA clarifies that the ETS is meant to strongly encourage employers to stipulate that its employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but includes a narrow testing and face covering exception—at least for now.

Continue Reading OSHA Releases Highly Anticipated Vaccine Mandate ETS

Texas employers who have tried to adopt “best practices” with respect to the health and safety of their employees and customers during the past 18 months have faced quite a challenge. Disagreements between officials at the local, state, and national levels, and the healthcare professionals supporting those officials, have resulted in a variety of guidance, executive orders, and laws often imposing contradictory requirements with respect to operating limitations and requirements, masking requirements, social distancing, and, now, vaccination requirements. While many may differ on their political, religious, philosophical, or other bases for supporting or opposing such requirements, most employers have gotten to the point that they simply want to know what they need to do to keep the doors open while keeping employees and customers safe. However, the answer to the issue of whether vaccinations can be required of employees just got more difficult for Texas employers.

Continue Reading Dilemma for Texas Employers: Require Vaccinations or Not?

The Solicitor of Labor has commented that the ETS is expected to be published in the coming weeks. The ETS will go into effect immediately upon publication except for those states with their own OSHA-type laws. Those states will have up to 30 days to conform their laws to the federal edict, and once they do so, the edict will apply to the same employers subject to the federal order, plus other employers the states choose to extend the rule to, such as public employers.
Continue Reading To Vax or Not to Vax: No Longer a Question for Larger Private Employers Under Biden’s Vaccine Mandate