On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) issued its much-anticipated COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) imposing requirements pertaining to vaccinations, testing and face coverings on private employers throughout the country.
Which businesses does the ETS apply to? The ETS applies to employers with 100 or more employees, including…
Soon after the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or the “Act”) was passed in 2010, its critics initiated the first major legal effort to strike down the entire law as unconstitutional. That case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius, led to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts which…
On May 10, 2021 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and Title IX’s prohibitions on discrimination based on sex include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. “Research shows that one quarter of LGBTQ people who faced discrimination postponed or…
On July 8, 2020, in the consolidated cases of Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania et al. and Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al. v. Pennsylvania et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers can exclude coverage for birth control from their health…
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Bostock v. Clayton County and two related cases that presented the same issue: whether employment discrimination on the basis of an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In…
Over the past several weeks, human resources and employee benefits professionals (and their attorneys) have been scrambling to assemble staffing plans, telework arrangements and strategies for complying with the paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Response Act”). However, amidst the flurry of new laws, guidance and blog articles landing in your…
As businesses scramble to develop their plan for the weeks ahead, it’s important to identify aspects of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Response Act”) and related laws that are unclear at this point. Professional advisors may offer educated opinions on these questions – but, at the end of the day, we won’t know some…
It has been a dizzying few weeks for anyone trying to keep up with the steady stream of government directives and related information involving COVID-19. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Response Act”), Governor Wolf’s Orders and guidance from the CDC, OSHA and the EEOC have pushed employers and their counsel into overdrive. Many of…
Employers of drivers who hold commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) have been subject to U.S. Department of Transportation drug and alcohol testing requirements for over twenty-five years. These regulations, enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), require that any driver who fails (or refuses to take) a mandated drug or alcohol test must be…
For decades, federal wage and hour regulations have required that non-discretionary bonuses paid to employees be included in the recipients’ “regular rate” for purposes of calculating their overtime premiums. In other words, if an employee earns a base rate of $10/hour and also earns a non-discretionary weekly productivity bonus in the amount of $50 during…
