Employment Law Observer

On April 20, 2024, New York legislators approved the New York State 2024-2025 Budget. The Budget included three amendments to New York Labor Law affecting all New York employers.

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On the eighth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me eight maids-a-milking and SB 723.

On December 9, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a new workplace lactation bill, set to go into effect on June 7, 2023. The law, which amends Section 206-c of the New York Labor Law, requires that an employer provide reasonable unpaid break time, or allow for the use of paid break or meal time, each time an employee has a reasonable need to express breast milk, for up to three years following childbirth. The law further states that upon employee request, an employer is obligated to provide a location for expressing breast milk. The designated location must contain a chair, a working surface, and an electrical outlet. Additionally, the location must be in close proximity to the employee's work area, near clean running water, with lighting, shielded from view, and free from intrusion by other people. The designated location cannot be in a restroom or toilet stall. Furthermore, if the workplace has access to refrigeration, the employer must allow for the storage of expressed milk.

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this eighth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: eight maids a milking and AB 152.

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this fourth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: four calling birds and AB 2693.

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this third day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: three French hens and AB 1751.

On September 20, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced that New York City will end its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for private sector employees, effective November 1, 2022. Since December 27, 2021, private and public employees working in New York City were required to provide their employer with “proof of vaccination” before entering the workplace—subject to an employee’s approved religious or medical accommodation. Employees who did not provide their employer with proof of vaccination were prohibited from entering the workplace, with very limited exceptions.

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this sixth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: six geese-a-laying and AB 654.

On November 5, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). It required employers of 100 or more employees to institute mandates requiring employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19—or require weekly testing of its employees. That same day, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) similarly issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) requiring the workforces of Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order for Medicare and Medicaid facilities to continue participation in those programs. Many employers have also instituted COVID-19 vaccination mandates for their employees separate from OSHA’s ETS and CMS’s IFR.

At a press conference on October 21, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called on the Florida legislature to pass a law combating federal vaccine mandates. He also called on the legislature to hold a special legislative session to pass such a law, instead of waiting until the legislature resumes its normal session next year. Governor DeSantis believes legislation is necessary because an executive order against employer vaccine mandates may not be sufficient.

This week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott handed out the nation's most extensive ban against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. Executive Order No. GA-40 prohibits any Texas employer from issuing COVID-19 mandates for employees or consumers. Specifically, the Order disallows any "entity" from compelling receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine for persons – employees or consumers – "who object to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19."

The Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) issued updated guidance on August 13, 2021, to assist employers in protecting workers who are unvaccinated or otherwise at risk of contracting the virus. The guidance consists primarily of recommendations and seeks to align its approach with guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). CDC and OSHA guidance interact, but Employers have a specific legal obligation under OSHA to provide a safe and healthy workplace free from recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Employees and employers now find themselves well into year two of a global pandemic. Unfortunately, some people who contract COVID-19 do not fully recover. Known as "COVID long-haulers," these individuals suffer from a range of conditions that persist well beyond when they first contracted the virus. The impacts of "long-COVID" have left some individuals disabled, by definition, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar state and local laws. However, not every condition will qualify. Below, we consider steps employers can take to ensure they're providing appropriate accommodations and mitigating potential litigation.

While helpful to individuals, the new guidance issued recently by the Center for Disease Control raises more unanswered questions for employers preparing or implementing return-to-work strategies. In an advisory published on Hinshaw's website, we review these questions, and provide analysis.

On January 20, 2021, President Biden announced the principal points of his American Rescue Plan (the Plan), a new COVID-19 relief package that would revive the federal mandate on employers to provide paid sick and paid FMLA leave for certain COVID-19-related absences. On February 1, 2021, Republican lawmakers responded with a competing relief package that does not include those paid leave mandates. As of now, neither side has released a draft of the actual proposed legislation. Much of what we know comes from the announcement released by the Biden administration and a chart from Republican Senators.

In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this twelfth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: twelve drummers drumming and AB 685.

In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this tenth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: ten lords a-leaping and AB 1867.

In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this second day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: two turtle doves and AB 1947.

Can you believe this year is nearly over? Before popping the champagne, it's time to reprise our annual review of key labor and employment law developments in California. While California employers are thrown curve balls every year, the events of 2020 are simply unrivaled in living memory. Employers have been in a constant state of change all year, as they have been operating at the mercy of COVID-19 case numbers, stay at home orders, capacity limitations, and so much more. In the spirit of the season—and some semblance of normal—here is the first of our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series. On this first day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: a partridge in a pear tree and SB 1159.

On September 30, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its answers to frequently asked questions regarding an employer's obligation to report a COVID-19-related fatality if it occurs within 30 days of the work-related incident. Notably, according to OSHA, an "incident" includes exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace. In order for a fatality to be reportable it must occur within 30 days of the exposure at work, and an employer must report the fatality to OSHA within eight hours. The time clock for the reporting obligation commences within eight hours of the employer knowing that the employee has died and that the cause of death was work-related.