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Jan 06 2022
COVID-19Safety and Health

OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS timelines clarified

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over the OSHA COVID-19 (coronavirus) Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees on January 7, 2022. The ETS requires covered employers to ensure that workers who aren’t fully vaccinated are tested at least weekly for COVID-19. We expect the court…

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Jan 06 2022
COVID-19Hiring

Form I-9 remote inspection extended again, until April 30, 2022

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has again extended its temporary relaxation of the standards for physically inspecting a new worker’s employment eligibility documents when completing the Form I-9. This is the twelfth extension of the relaxed standard, which will now expire on April 30, 2022. As we originally reported, DHS relaxed the requirement for employers operating remotely and…

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Jan 06 2022
COVID-19Safety and Health

Health care employers’ COVID-19 obligations are shifting

Employers in the health care industry need to be aware of two important developments in federal COVID-19 (coronavirus) rules: (1) the establishment of new compliance deadlines for health care employers in the 25 states that didn’t file lawsuits over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate and (2) the expiration of OSHA’s…

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Jan 06 2022
Affirmative Action

“Ban the box” restrictions apply to new federal contracts

Federal contractors must wait to ask applicants about criminal convictions until making a conditional job offer, beginning with any federal contracts resulting from solicitations issued after December 20, 2021. We previously reported on the federal law that established this “ban the box” requirement for federal contractors. It's part of the “Fair Chance to Compete for…

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Jan 06 2022
COVID-19Safety and Health

CDC shortens COVID-19 isolation and quarantine periods

On December 27, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced shortened isolation and quarantine periods for individuals who contract or are exposed to COVID-19 (coronavirus). The agency received some pushback, so it published additional details on its Quarantine and Isolation web page (updated January 4, 2022). Isolation after testing positive: The new…

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Dec 20 2021
COVID-19Safety and Health

OSHA vaccine mandate is back on for employers with 100+ employees

On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the preliminary legal hold on the OSHA COVID-19 (coronavirus) emergency temporary standard (ETS) for employers with 100 or more employees. This means that OSHA’s regulation requiring employees of covered employers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing is in effect once…

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Dec 16 2021
COVID-19

CMS vaccine mandate back in effect for states that didn’t sue

On December 15, 2021, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that reinstates the COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine mandate by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in states that didn’t participate in lawsuits challenging the mandate. As a result, many health care employers in California, Oregon, and Washington are once again…

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Dec 16 2021
COVID-19Safety and HealthWashington

WASHINGTON: State extends rules for reporting COVID-19 outbreaks

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has issued a replacement emergency temporary rule, which is identical to the rule we previously reported, regarding employer reporting and notification requirements for infectious and contagious diseases during a public health emergency, including the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The original rules were set to expire on December 8,…

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Dec 16 2021
COVID-19CaliforniaSafety and Health

CALIFORNIA: Masks required indoors regardless of vaccination status

On December 13, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an order requiring people to wear masks in all indoor public settings from December 15, 2021, through January 15, 2022, regardless of whether they’re vaccinated against COVID-19 (coronavirus). The new order temporarily overrides the exception in Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standards (ETS), which…

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Dec 16 2021
COVID-19

Foreign workers crossing U.S. borders will have to prove vaccination

According to the Department of Homeland Security, sometime in January 2022, foreign workers seeking to enter the U.S. through ports of entry on land or at ferry terminals will have to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 (coronavirus). Currently, workers engaged in essential travel, such as truck drivers transporting commercial goods, are exempt from any…

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Dec 16 2021
Affirmative ActionHarassment & Discrimination

Security services contractor to pay $1,175,000 after OFCCP audit

AlliedBarton Security Services LLC agreed to pay $1,175,000 in back pay and interest to resolve allegations of pay discrimination uncovered during a routine affirmative action audit by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The OFCCP found pay disparities based on race and gender among employees in unarmed security officer jobs in New York…

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Dec 16 2021
Q&AWage and HourWashington

WASHINGTON Q&A: Pay door-to-door for out-of-town travel

Question: We have a non-exempt (hourly) employee in Washington who’s going to be traveling out of town for work. What travel time hours do they need to be paid for? Answer: The safest approach is to pay the employee door-to-door (from their home to the out-of-town destination and from the out-of-town destination back home). As…

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