I had been receiving calls about whether employers can require employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it is available to the general public. My guidance had been based on instinct and outdated guidance on pandemic flu. Yesterday, the EEOC released guidance on mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. The long and short of it: It is
Ohio Employment Law Matters
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New EEOC tool allows interactive searches of demographic data
The EEOC recently launched a new tool that provides access to industry aggregated data collected from annual employer EEO-1 reports. The new tool is called “EEOC Explore,” available here. Data on employment by race, ethnicity, and gender can be searched by EEO-1 job category in an aggregate format organized by NAICS industry code. Presently,…
Happy Veterans Day to veterans and a reminder about affirmative action laws
Happy Veterans’ Day to all of the veterans out there. It also is a great day to remember that if your business has a contract with the federal government in excess of $100,000, or your business has a contract with another company that has a covered federal contract, you are covered by VEVRAA, the Vietnam…
New CDC guidance on exposures problematic for quarantining employees
The CDC made it much more difficult for employers, schools, and businesses to determine who should be quarantined when a confirmed positive COVID-19 infection occurs. A close contact is now defined as being within 6 feet of an infected person for 15 cumulative minutes in a day–versus 15 consecutive minutes at one time.
Last week,…
DOL provides guidance on tracking work at home during the pandemic
Allowing non-exempt workers to work unsupervised from home has always been a big no-no in the wage-hour world. Allowing this exposes the employer to claims for unpaid hours, and unpaid overtime, from federal, state, and local laws with unforgiving penalties. Recognizing the number of non-exempt employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, the federal…
DOL revises rules on emergency sick leave after NY court decision
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) revised its April 1, 2020 regulations about who qualifies for emergency sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) after parts of its prior regulations were struck down by a New York federal court on August 3, 2020 (see earlier blog post). The NY court struck…
Ohio enacts qualified immunity bill for COVID-19 lawsuits that applies to healthcare providers and businesses
On September 14, 2020, Ohio passed and the Governor signed House Bill 606, which provides qualified immunity to healthcare providers and employers who are accused of spreading COVID-19. It will become effective on December 13, 2020 (90 days after signed into law).
Section 1 of the law provides qualified immunity to healthcare providers providing services…
EEOC updates Q&As on COVID-19 pandemic: testing, accommodation, and other considerations
The EEOC updated its Q&As on COVID-19 and the pandemic in light of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. The highlights are as follows:
- Employers may:
- Require accurate and reliable COVID-19 tests in order to decide who may return to work when employees will be physically entering the workplace.
- Ask employees who will be physically entering
…
Grocery chain sued over banning BLM masks – Be careful of selective enforcement of policies
In late July, a group of fourteen grocery store workers sued a supermarket chain, alleging that it discriminated against employees when it banned the wearing of Black Lives Matter or BLM masks at work. The lawsuit alleges that the company disciplined, and in one case, terminated, employees for wearing masks supporting the racial justice and…