Fisher Phillips (JD Supra United States)

4012 results for Fisher Phillips (JD Supra United States)

  • Second Time’s the Charm? California Set to Amend Pandemic-Related Workplace Safety Rules

    After a rollercoaster meeting Thursday where it originally voted down the proposed revisions, Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board eventually adopted proposed revisions to the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that will establish COVID-19-related workplace safety rules for California employers. Now, the Standards Board will submit the proposed revised ETS to the Office of Administrative Law, which will...

  • COVID-19 Whistleblower Lawsuits Continue to Target Healthcare Employers, Revealing Risks of Hasty Decision Making

    Fisher Phillips’ COVID-19 Employment Litigation Tracker continues to report that the healthcare industry is the hardest hit by COVID-19 employment litigation. As of the beginning of June, more than one in five of every pandemic-related lawsuit filed across the country had been filed against healthcare employers: 540 out of just over 2,400 cases, or 22.5% of all claims filed. And of those hundreds

  • New Jersey Eases COVID 19 Restrictions for Businesses and Employers

    New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy just issued executive orders easing some of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions and providing employers and businesses some much-welcomed flexibility. Executive Order 243, which becomes effective June 4, rescinds the telework or “work from home” mandate that has been in place since March 2020 and eases other requirements on businesses that operate private offices....

  • DOL Cybersecurity Guidance: Managing Risks to Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans

    The Government Accountability Office recently urged the U.S. Department of Labor to release guidance on cybersecurity matters in an effort to mitigate risks to 401(k) and other retirement plans. The GAO noted that there were trillions of dollars in employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans and that the DOL had not clarified whether plan fiduciaries have any responsibility regarding

  • New York Department of Labor Confirms Sick Leave Can Be Used for Vaccination Side Effects

    Employees in New York must be permitted to use sick leave under the New York Paid Sick Leave Law (NYPSL) for recovery from any side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. Citing studies that found workers were avoiding the COVID-19 vaccine due to fear of missing a day of work due to side effects, the New York Department of Labor issued guidance on May 27 confirming that employees can use sick leave for

  • Going Viral: Navigating Social Media within the School Community

    Social media has transformed how we interact online and engage with our communities with the average person spending over six hours a day online. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen an even greater increase in social media usage due to stay-at-home orders and remote learning. But what do you do when a student’s social media post or video goes viral for all the wrong reasons? A...

  • May 2021: The Top 18 Labor And Employment Law Stories

    It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month was no exception. In fact, there were so many significant developments taking place during the past month that we were once again forced to expand our monthly summary...

  • Back to School: 4 Things To Focus On During Summer Break

    There is no doubt that every school faced unprecedented challenges over the last year. Summer break is a great time for private and independent schools to reset and plan for the next school year and beyond, taking into account some of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the law, and societal changes. This article will discuss some suggestions you should consider as you...

  • Disciplining Faculty in a Public Higher Education Setting: Growing Number of Jurisdictions Recognize “Academic Exception”

    Can a public university discipline a professor for refusing to address a student by the student’s preferred pronoun? If so, can the professor defend his conduct by alleging his religious beliefs prohibit him from recognizing the student’s gender identity? These questions were answered in a recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit – demonstrating a trend that is...

  • Massachusetts Enacts Yet Another COVID-19 Paid Leave Obligation for Bay State Employers

    Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation on May 28 creating another statewide mandate for employers to provide emergency paid leave related to COVID-19. The COVID-19 Paid Leave obligations outlined in this article will begin 10 days from the governor’s signature, which means you will need to quickly adjust your policies and practices before the June 7 effective date. What do Bay...

  • Title IX – Will Everything Old Be New Again?

    [Warning: This article does not reference viruses, vaccines, or mask-wearing.] The education world is in a state of flux, legally speaking. Any day now, the U.S. Supreme Court will further opine on the extent to which the First Amendment protects off-campus speech in the public K-12 context, and whether or to what extent college and university athletes may personally profit from their names,...

  • Employers Now Have 2 Clear Options to Provide Vaccine Incentives Thanks to New EEOC Guidance

    The EEOC kicked off the unofficial start of summer with a bang by clearing the way for employers to offer their employees incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine in new guidance released on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend. The May 28 updates to the agency’s COVID-19 Technical Assistance guidance now provides employers with two clear options, drawing a key distinction based on who administers...

  • Unmasking the Challenges: 7 Options for Managing a Partially Vaccinated Workforce

    Now that most states, the CDC, and OSHA have (or may soon) lift mask mandates for vaccinated workers, what is an employer to do about revealing an employee’s vaccination status? Under any relaxed masking guidance applicable to those who are fully vaccinated, customers, visitors, and co-workers are likely to draw their own conclusions about the vaccination status of everyone else in the workplace...

  • What Do the Relaxed CDC Mask Guidelines Mean for Washington Employers?

    Despite the CDC’s recent news regarding relaxed mask recommendations, those Washington employers eager to return to business as usual must still comply with Governor Inslee’s May 21 “Safe Workers’ Proclamation” and Washington Labor & Industries’ (L&I) related guidance. Some existing rules continue to apply, while there are some changes to consider. What do Washington employers need to know about...

  • A Sobering Reality for Craft Breweries: 5-Step Action Plan to Address Workplace Harassment

    The brewing industry has been overwhelmed over the past few weeks with numerous accounts of employees claiming harassment, gender discrimination, and toxic work environments. What started as one woman’s account of harassment on her Instagram page quickly turned into an industry-wide assault – and it will now force an awakening among brewery employers. Because just as troubling as the accounts of...

  • COVID-19 Workplace Compliance Now Clearer and Simpler for Michigan Employers: The 6 Key Requirements

    Michigan workplace safety authorities just released their highly anticipated revised Emergency Rules that streamline employer’s duties when it comes to responding to COVID-19-related concerns and better reflect the most recent CDC guidance on vaccinated individuals. The new rules from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) most notably remove the remote working...

  • FP Flash Survey Reveals That Most Employers Continue to Refrain From Mandating COVID-19 Vaccine But Vast Majority Encouraging It

    It appears an overwhelming number of employers are not mandating their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine – more than four in five – but are instead encouraging their workforce to get inoculated from the virus. That’s according to a survey conducted by Fisher Phillips, with over 600 respondents providing their thoughts between May 14-19. The most recent survey – which follows a similar survey

  • The Slippery Road Toward Immigration Reform Under President Biden: Beware of ICE!

    President Biden has proposed sweeping changes to U.S. immigration law, contained in the pending U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. This piece of proposed legislation, as introduced into Congress by the bill’s lead sponsors, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), contains several measures which would provide a boost to immigrants and employers aiming to expand their worker pool....

  • One Employee’s Accidental Email Leads To A Significant Data Breach Ruling in Federal Appeals Court

    A federal appeals court recently addressed whether employees had standing to bring a lawsuit when their personally identifiable information (PII) was inadvertently circulated to other employees at the company, with no indication of misuse or external disclosure. In McMorris v. Carlos Lopez & Associates, LLC, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (hearing cases from New York, Connecticut, and Vermont)...

  • Is a New Privacy Trend on the Rise? What Businesses Can Learn from Utah’s New Data Breach Safe Harbor Law

    A new trend in privacy law appears to be on the horizon. Earlier this year, Utah joined Ohio on the forefront of jurisdictions that provide data breach safe harbors to entities where certain conditions are met. What can your business learn from this new trend – and will it be coming to your state anytime soon?

  • Santa Clara County Employers Must Track Employee Vaccinations: 8 Takeaways and a 5-Step Compliance Plan

    Businesses in Santa Clara County must get ready to comply with the County’s new vaccine tracking mandate by no later than June 1. The County of Santa Clara Emergency Operations Center issued a May 18 Order of The Health Officer Of the County of Santa Clara Establishing Focused Safety Measures To Protect The Community from COVID-19 requiring businesses to obtain the vaccination status of all “perso

  • Reversal of Fortune for California Employers: State Officials Put Brakes On COVID-19 Workplace Safety Rule Changes – For Now

    In an unexpected turn of events, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board announced yesterday that it will not move to adopt the proposed revisions to the existing Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). Instead, the Deputy Chief of Cal/OSHA has asked that the Standards Board hold off on voting and allow the state safety agency the opportunity to present a new...

  • IRS Addresses Lingering Employer Questions Regarding COBRA Premium Assistance and Corresponding Tax Credits under the American Rescue Plan Act

    The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides for 100% premium assistance to certain qualified beneficiaries for continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) for periods of coverage beginning on or after April 1, 2021 and ending September 30, 2021. Employers have been grappling with a number of items left unanswered by lawmakers and subsequent DOL...

  • Ohio Jumps Aboard CDC’s Masking Guidance for Those Fully Vaccinated: What Businesses Need To Know

    Following last week’s recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that fully vaccinated people are no longer required to wear a mask or socially distance in most settings, the Ohio Department of Health just issued a new Health Order to conform to the CDC’s guidance. What do Ohio employers – especially retail establishments – need to know about the May 17 Revised...

  • Michigan Employers Must Still Comply With COVID-19 Requirements – Including Masking – For Those Not Fully Vaccinated

    Last week, the CDC announced that “fully vaccinated” people: (1) can go mask-less indoors; (2) cease social distancing; (3) be excluded from routine screenings; and (4) refrain from being tested or quarantining following a known exposure to a COVID-19-positive person (assuming the vaccinated person remains asymptomatic). However, the CDC’s new guidance also said fully vaccinated people should...

  • Employers Have 3 Options in Light of OSHA’s Unmasking Announcement

    Responding to a huge looming question for employers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) just issued an announcement referring businesses to the CDC’s new guidance advising that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or social distance in non-healthcare settings. But neither OSHA’s May 17 announcement nor the CDC’s May 13 release provide specific direction to...

  • Change is Coming in California: Top 10 Revisions to COVID-19 Workplace Safety Rules for Employers

    After months of calls for modification to Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), California is about to adopt significant changes to the standard in light of the changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the proliferation of vaccinations. State officials released proposed revisions to the ETS for public review on May 7, and Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board will vote to adopt the changes on...

  • What New York City Employers Need to Know About The First Court Rulings in Early COVID 19 Related Workplace Litigation

    Of the more than 2,300 COVID-19-related employment lawsuits we have been tracking, many have at least one thing in common: they relate to employees who had (or suspect they had) the virus in late 2019 or early 2020 – before, for example, states even issued their initial shelter-in-place orders. And now that courts are beginning to issue rulings on such cases, we’re starting to see the first few...

  • All In The Family, Part Two: Court Again Dismisses Lawsuit Alleging Family Member’s COVID-19 Workplace Exposure Claim

    A California court just struck a second blow to the lawsuit brought by the wife of a California construction worker who alleged that her husband contracted COVID-19 from his workplace and then spread it to her. We previously reported on this case, in which the employee’s wife alleged that her husband’s employer negligently failed to follow healthcare protocols to avoid the spread of COVID-19 to...

  • States are Opting Out of Federal Unemployment Benefits To Induce Employees Back to Work – Your 10-Step Plan to Fill out Your Workforce

    The increase in vaccinations and decrease in the COVID-19 infection rate has led to a rapid reopening of the U.S. economy. But as the country starts to fully reopen and businesses ramp back up, the need to recall or rehire employees — some of whom have been collecting enhanced unemployment benefits — has created a new crisis point: labor shortages. A growing number of states are seeking to combat

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