On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order staying the implementation and enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”). This order affirmed the Fifth Circuit’s original November 6, 2021 order, which granted petitioners’ emergency motion to stay the ETS pending
COVID-19
Paid Vaccination Leave, Expanded Whistleblower Protection, and Paid Family Leave – Another Round of New Employment Laws and Guidance for New York Employers
In yet another round of legislation and administrative decision-making, New York State recently expanded its paid vaccination leave requirements, whistleblower protection laws, and paid family leave requirements. New York employers should immediately review their employment policies and practices to ensure compliance with these new employment protections, which go into effect at the times described below.…
OSHA Issues Emergency Temporary Standard Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination And Testing For Certain Employers
On November 5, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published its Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”), 86 Fed. Reg. 61402, which requires employers with a total of 100 or more employees to develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy or choose to subject employees who decline the vaccine to weekly testing.
The…
New Guidance and Updated Model Workplace Prevention Exposure Plans Available for Employers to Comply with the New York HERO Act
On September 23, 2021, New York State issued Information and FAQs (the “FAQs”)[1] regarding the New York State Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act”), as well as updated model workplace exposure prevention plans. As we previously reported, the New York Commissioner of Health designated COVID-19 as a covered “highly contagious communicable disease”…
President Biden Enacts Executive Orders Requiring Covid-19 Vaccines Across Federal Government and in Private Sector
On September 9, 2021, President Biden released a new six-pronged national plan, the Path Out of the Pandemic (the “Plan”), to try and curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Plan includes the following measures:
1. President Biden signed an Executive Order that all Executive Branch employees must be vaccinated with limited exceptions. Each federal…