COVID

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (”OSHA”) has issued its long-awaited Emergency Temporary Standard requiring employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that each worker be fully vaccinated, or subject to at least weekly testing, by January 4. Public employers are not covered by OSHA and will not be subject to the rule. … Continue Reading

On Monday, as it has done periodically throughout the pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its now-lengthy technical assistance related to COVID-19. This new guidance comes as U.S. employers increasingly have abandoned encouraging or incentivizing vaccinations for their workforces in favor of vaccine mandates, in an effort to get their employees back to work on site (for those who have been working remotely) and in a determined effort to curb the spread of the disease among those who have been working throughout the pandemic or who are just returning to the workplace.… Continue Reading

A three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the lower court’s order denying plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction against Maine’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated. Plaintiffs in the case had argued that exceptions to the mandate must be permitted for religious objections.… Continue Reading

On Tuesday evening, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent its proposed vaccine mandate to the White House for final review.  OSHA’s proposed rule was drafted in response to President Biden’s September 9 request that OSHA require companies with 100 or more employees to mandate coronavirus vaccinations or weekly testing. Based on the President’s request, OSHA will also require covered businesses to give workers paid time off to get vaccinated and to recover from any side effects from vaccination.… Continue Reading

As we previously posted, the City of Philadelphia is mandating healthcare workers and those who work, volunteer, or attend classes at higher education institutions in the city receive the COVID-19 vaccine.  The initial deadline for all covered individuals to be vaccinated or have a medical or religious exemption was October 15, 2021.… Continue Reading

On September 24, 2021, the White House issued Guidance explaining that Federal contractors and subcontractors with a covered contract or contract-like instrument must comply with the following workplace safety protocols:

  1. COVID-19 vaccination of covered contractor employees, except where an employee is legally entitled to an accommodation;
  2. Compliance with masking and physical distancing while in covered contractor workplaces; and
  3. Designation of a person or persons to coordinate COVID-19 workplace safety efforts at covered contractor workplaces.
… Continue Reading

Last week, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that an employee whose employment was terminated on the same day she disclosed to her employer that she had tested positive for COVID-19 sufficiently pled a claim of “regarded as” disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”). … Continue Reading

Please join us for the 9th Annual HR Legal Summit, co-sponsored by Ballard Spahr and SEPA SHRM. This year’s HR Legal Summit will be held in the mornings on Thursday, September 30 and Friday, October 1, 2021. We are excited about this year’s virtual conference with cutting edge sessions, top-notch speakers, professional credits, fresh perspectives, career-changing insights, and countless connections!… Continue Reading

The White House has announced that OSHA will develop a new temporary emergency standard requiring private employers of 100 or more employees to mandate full vaccination or weekly testing for employees.  In addition, the President reportedly will sign an Executive Order expanding the requirements for federal contractors to vaccinate their employees which may reach contractors whose employees are not at government facilities. … Continue Reading

As we previously posted, the City of Philadelphia announced that vaccines will be mandatory for healthcare workers and those at colleges and universities in the city, absent a religious or medical exemption, beginning on October 15, 2021. On August 16, the Board of Health adopted the Emergency Regulation Governing the Control and Prevention of COIVD-19 Mandating Vaccines for Healthcare Workers and in Higher Education, Healthcare and Related Settings (“Emergency Regulation”).… Continue Reading