An Essential Resource for Employers
Below are a number of significant developments related to COVID-19 that impact businesses of all sizes, across industries:
DOJ Says Vaccine Mandates Not Prohibited by EUA
This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) released to the public, a memo dated July 6, 2021. The memo can be found here and…
In a closely-watched case that may be a preview of other court decisions involving COVID-vaccination mandates for students returning to school and employees returning to the workplace, a federal district court has denied a request to enjoin Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccine policy for students. The policy includes a requirement that students provide documentation proving that…
On March 29, 2021, the City of Philadelphia enacted an ordinance providing for paid Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL). Our blog post on the requirements of the leave can be found here. That leave requirement is now expired and employers no longer need to provide this leave.
The PHEL’s sunset provision tied its expiration…
Businesses with employees in Pennsylvania should be prepared to adapt to a post-COVID-19 world now that temporary guidance regarding remote work has expired and pre-pandemic rules regarding employment tax withholding and nexus have been applied.
Effective July 1, 2021, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (“DOR”) announced that prior guidance, which effectively disregarded remote work by…
Employers in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia should take note of new guidance from the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Departments of Revenue regarding employment tax withholding and the implications of continued remote work in a post-COVID world. See here for the full Alert from Ballard’s Tax Group.
OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) has been published in the Federal Register, and becomes effective today. As we reported in detail here, most provisions of the ETS must be met within 14 days of the date of publication (i.e., July 6, 2021), but employers will have until July 21, 2021 (30 days total)…
The latest episode of Business Better features a discussion about earned wage access programs. We’ll discuss why the push for on-demand payroll technology has picked-up during the COVID-19 pandemic and outline issues from an employer’s viewpoint as it relates to state wage & hour laws, liabilities, and potential lawsuits.
The discussion features Meredith Dante, a…
Fulfilling a promise made early in the Biden Administration, on June 10, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) related to COVID-19. However, the ETS applies only to healthcare and healthcare support service workers in settings where people with COVID-19 are reasonably expected to be present. Although this…
On June 9, 2021, in Professional Transportation Inc., the National Labor Relations Board held that a party’s offer to collect an employee’s mail ballot constitutes misconduct that may serve as the basis to set aside the election. 370 NLRB No. 132.
The Board has previously held that a party engages in objectionable conduct when…
In April 2020, an executive assistant at a Staten Island health care provider was allegedly terminated for raising COVID-19 related safety concerns about an in-person meeting. In what may be a sign of litigation to come, the Department of Labor has filed suit against the employee’s former employer alleging violation of the whistleblower provisions of…
