On August 11, 2022, the CDC issued new guidance regarding isolation and masking for individuals exposed to COVID-19. According to the CDC, high levels of immunity and the availability of COVID-19 prevention and management tools have reduced the risk for medically significant illness. While employers still must traverse through the complicated web of COVID-19 mitigation
Workplace Trends
OSHA Withdraws COVID-19 Vaccination or Testing ETS
By Andrew L. Levy & Bill Boak on
Posted in Workplace Trends
As explained in our previous post, on January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court blocked the OSHA vaccination or testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) pending full consideration of the matter by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, OSHA is withdrawing the ETS, effective January 26, 2022.…
Biden Executive Order on Competition Targets Labor Markets, Including Non-Compete Agreements and Information Sharing
By Bill Boak on
Posted in Workplace Trends
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a sweeping Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy”. The Executive Order includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to address perceived competition problems across the U.S. economy, and signals increased enforcement of the antitrust laws in multiple industries (including agriculture, finance,…
New qualifying conditions, telemedicine visits and 90-day supplies . . . revisions to the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act.
By Denise Elliott on
Posted in Workplace Compliance, Workplace Trends
This week, Governor Wolf signed House Bill 1024, allowing certain revisions to the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (the “Act”). While the revisions do not specifically implicate the workplace, and do not provide guidance to employers on navigating medical marijuana use by employees, employers should, nonetheless, pay attention.
What changed?
House Bill 1024 makes permanent three…
Unemployment Compensation Fraud – What’s an Employer To Do?
By Micah T. Saul on
Posted in Workplace Trends
As legitimate unemployment compensation claims have spiked in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, so too have fraudulent ones. Just yesterday, Maryland’s Department of Labor announced that the state has detected over 508,000 new, potentially fraudulent unemployment claims since May 1, 2021. Last year, a $650million unemployment fraud scheme rocked Washington state. In April 2021,…
Pay For College Play Not Coming to a School Near You
By Adam Santucci on
Posted in Wage & Hour, Workplace Trends
This post was authored by Frank Lavery, II, a Law Clerk with McNees. Frank is currently a student at the University of Notre Dame Law School and expects to earn his J.D. in May of 2022.
On June 21, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion on the hotly contested issue of compensation…
OSHA Issues Revised COVID-19 Guidance on Protecting Workers
By Andrew L. Levy & Steve Matzura on
Posted in Workplace Compliance, Workplace Trends
McNees attorney Errin McCaulley is a co-author of this post
On June 10, 2021, OSHA released a revised version of its Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace (“Workplace Guidance”). This Guidance was issued simultaneously with the Emergency Temporary Standard, which is applicable only in the healthcare industry. …
U.S. Supreme Court Emphasizes Need to Couple IT Safeguards with Written Policies to Safeguard Confidential Data
By Devin Chwastyk on
Posted in Workplace Privacy, Workplace Trends
This post was authored by Devin Chwastyk and Frank Lavery, II. Devin is the Chair of the Privacy & Data Security group at McNees. Frank is a Law Clerk with McNees. Frank is currently a student at the University of Notre Dame Law School and expects to earn his J.D. in May of 2022.
On…
EEOC Issues New Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccines
By Adam R. Long on
Posted in Employer Liability, Workplace Trends
On May 28, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated informal guidance on COVID-19 and the federal employment laws that it enforces. This round of guidance focused on COVID-19 vaccines and their intersection with the workplace. With the CDC recently exempting fully vaccinated individuals from masking requirements (except where otherwise required by other federal,…
New York Strikes First On COVID Influenced Legislation
By Adam Santucci & Brittany Jones on
Posted in Employer Liability, Workplace Trends
On May 5, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed A2681B/S1034—the Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act” or “Act”), which requires employers to enact an airborne infectious disease exposure prevention standard for all work sites and to create a workplace safety committee.
Under the Act, the NY Department of Labor, in consultation with the…