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CO employers likely must cover costs of required COVID-19 testing

Q If an employer requires COVID-19 testing as a condition of employment, who covers the cost? A Under its pending emergency temporary standard (ETS), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has clarified...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Deciding whether FMLA covers daughter transporting mom to care for dad

Q An employee's dad is being flown to another hospital for COVID-19 treatment. She needs to drive her mom to the new hospital and therefore will miss at least one day of work. Would she be eligible for Family and Medical...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Federal contractor vaccine mandate blocked nationwide

A federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide injunction blocking President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors in early December. The order was set to take effect on January 4, 2022, and would...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

OSHA do’s and don’ts for mandatory COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated employees

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes to further delay the federal COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate for private companies with at least 100 employees, covered employers should prepare to have their testing programs in...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

NYSDOH shortens COVID-19 isolation, quarantine periods

What a difference two years make. Between December 23, 2021, and January 10, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recommending shorter periods of isolation and quarantine in response...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · New York

2 Texas words signal you can count on me: ‘You bet!’

Goals many of us share are to become more productive in our pursuits, more adept at our jobs, more fulfilled in our lives. But how to do that—by working harder? Delegating more? Relying on automation (i.e., artificial...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

Lawyer receives 91-day suspension for coaching witness

Our readers are HR professionals, lawyers, and business owners/execs. Lawyers have certain ethical rules by which they must abide. Failure to do so can lead to dire consequences, as a workers’ compensation lawyer for a...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

Let’s not play with our food: avoiding contamination in Texas

We’ve seen numerous reports about various outbreaks of Hepatitis A. What do they have in common? Food. Not another one Over the last five years, the Hepatitis A occurrences have proliferated. Among the incidents, several...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

Background checks: Being safe is better than being sorry

If you’ve ever thought about forgoing a background check, think again. The small expense now can save you a lot in the long run. Rotten apple A perhaps underestimated part of the hiring process is the employee background...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

5th Circuit dives into OSHA thicket in trench safety case

The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act has been in the news a lot lately. It’s the statutory basis on which President Joe Biden is seeking to enforce his administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

Texas Supreme Court to nail down arbitration issue

The Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments in mid-January about a Whataburger Restaurants case that has been bouncing around the state legal system for several years. As you will soon discern, I believe the court’s...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Texas

Mixing HRAs and MERPs with FSAs and HSAs

Q Can we offer a medical expense reimbursement plan (MERP) along with a health flexible spending account (FSA) or a health savings account (HSA) plan? A A MERP is an employer-sponsored, tax-advantaged healthcare...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Determining whether FMLA leave covers transporting parent to new hospital

Q An employee’s dad is being flown to another hospital for COVID-19 treatment. She needs to drive her mom to the new hospital and therefore will miss at least one day of work. Would she be eligible for Family and Medical...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Noncompetes face uncertain future under Biden administration

The Biden administration has initiated numerous legal changes against employers, and most of you no doubt have been closely following the major disputes surrounding the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Nevertheless...

Jan 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington