Question: Our company is struggling to find workers and keep operations running efficiently. All employment offers are conditioned on passing a preemployment drug screen and background check. We’ve been allowing new hires to start working before we receive the results from our third-party vendors. We just learned that an employee who has…
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The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t require an employee to have long-term medical issues in order to establish a disability. The employee in this case was a newly hired HR generalist who was approved for an eight-week leave of…
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The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) order that required everyone to wear masks in indoor public settings regardless of whether they were vaccinated against COVID-19 (coronavirus) expired on February 15, 2022, but the order still requires unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors. As we previously reported, the CDPH originally set…
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On January 27, 2022, Governor Jay Inslee signed Substitute House Bill 1732, delaying the implementation of Washington state’s long-term care premium tax from January 1, 2022, until July 1, 2023. As we previously reported, mounting opposition to the program caused Governor Inslee to announce a delay in late December 2021. However, in a…
Read More…On January 5, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) extended its order requiring everyone to wear masks in indoor public settings regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 (coronavirus). The original statewide order was set to end on January 15, 2022, but will now stay in effect through…
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The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that employers with federal supply or service contracts/subcontracts will be required to annually certify that they have developed written affirmative action plans (AAPs), with an initial deadline of June 30, 2022. The certification requirements apply to employers who are already…
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Question: I read your Alert, announcing a hold on federal OSHA’s COVID-19 (coronavirus) emergency temporary standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees until a federal court hearing occurs. Does that mean we can stop preparing for the rule (which requires vaccination or weekly tests), or is there something we…
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November 4, 2021 OSHA announced its long-awaited COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), directing employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees to be vaccinated or else submit to weekly testing. The official rule will be effective immediately upon its publication on November 5, 2021, but covered employers will…
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Question: My employee says they tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus). There have been so many changes to the requirements that I’m not sure what I should do anymore. Please help! Answer: Start with current federal guidance and then check your state and local requirements. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) web page on…
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On November 1, 2021, new FAQs for federal contractors subject to President Biden’s COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine mandate (Executive Order 14042) appeared on the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force website. Here are some highlights from the FAQs: Pending accommodation requests: It’s okay if you’re still reviewing requests for accommodation due to disabilities or sincerely held…
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