For most employers, keeping in compliance with COVID-19 regulations has been a moving target. Thankfully, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (“Task Force”) have updated their Frequently Asked Questions pages regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, clarifying the rights and responsibilities of employers instituting vaccination policies. In the EEOC’s updated [...]
Everyone looks forward to holiday weekends, including those who commence cybersecurity attacks. In a recent joint alert by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the agencies warned that there has been an increase in highly impactful ransomware attacks occurring on holidays and weekends. In the past year, [...]
Back in the day, your wristwatch only told you the time of day and, if you were lucky, maybe the date too. But nowadays it seems like everyone has some sort of smart watch or fitness tracker on their wrist. A recent study showed that nearly one-in-five U.S. adults utilize wearable health tracking technology in [...]
To date, over 36 million Americans have contracted COVID-19. While the large majority have recovered, some are still experiencing persisting COVID-19 symptoms. On July 26, 2021, the White House announced that such persisting symptoms were known as Long COVID and that its effects would be considered a disability under federal law. In conjunction with the [...]
As the Delta variant emerges as the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Ohio and vaccines become widely available, employers are increasingly considering instituting vaccination policies in the workplace. Before rolling out a voluntary or mandatory vaccination policy, employers should consider the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) guidelines to adhere to the requirements of Title VII [...]
The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that they are rescinding their current joint employer and independent contractor rules, effective on September 28, 2021. This decision is not surprising. DOL announced their intentions to roll back these rules in March 2021, as we reported to you in an earlier newsletter this year. Both rules were [...]
On June 12, 2021, a federal court in Texas, applying the state’s at-will employment laws, ruled that a hospital could require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. At trial, the employees raised two causes of action. First, the employees asserted that if they were terminated for refusing the vaccine, it would constitute wrongful termination [...]
To date, approximately five million Ohioans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Many employers are eager to have employees vaccinated and return to work, but vaccination opportunities for employees are often limited because vaccinations appointments are often restricted to “business” hours. Some employers are also considering the merits of mandatory vaccination [...]
As of June 23, 2021, there are three pending bills in the Ohio legislature that would effectively ban mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. While all three bills, H.B. 248, S.B. 169, and S.B. 350, would practically prohibit COVID-19 vaccination requirements by public and private employers, they are different in scope and implementation. A summary of the three [...]
On Friday, March 12, 2021 the latest COVID relief packaging, titled the American Rescue Plan, was signed into law. Included in the massive $1.9 trillion package is $350 billion in aid for state, local, and tribal governments. Of the $350 billion, Ohio has been allocated $11.24 billion and is seventh overall in terms of total [...]