By James L. Curtis, Adam R. Young, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor Tweeted and blogged about the safety of workers during the busy holiday season, indicating an area of potential enforcement for OSHA in the coming weeks.
Unsurprisingly, OSHA has targeted workplace
Continue Reading Ho, Ho, Health and Safety! Keeping Workers Safe and Merry this Holiday Season
By A. Scott Hecker, Brent I. Clark, Benjamin D. Briggs, James L. Curtis, Adam R. Young, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) lottery selected the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to hear the consolidated legal challenges to
Continue Reading U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Selected to Rule on OSHA COVID ETS Per Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
By Adam R. Young, Robert T. Szyba, Robert S. Whitman, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: The New York Department of Labor published “Frequently Asked Questions” which address occupational cannabis issues under the adult-use cannabis and the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).
New York State has legalized medical and recreational marijuana, and
Continue Reading New York Department of Labor Attempts to Prohibit Drug Testing for Cannabis, Employment Actions Against Some Employees Who are Impaired at Work
By Scott Hecker, Elisabeth Watson, and Karla Grossenbacher
Seyfarth Synopsis: Your dedicated Seyfarth Team has created a checklist to help covered employers achieve compliance with the OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) in timely fashion.
Pending legal challenges have called into question the viability of ETS, published in the Federal Register on November 5,
Continue Reading What Must Employers Do to Comply with OSHA’s ETS? Check out our Checklist for Answers
By Adam R. Young, Melissa A. Ortega, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 28, 2021, an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act passed the Illinois General Assembly and made its way to Governor Pritzker’s desk. The amendment creates a COVID-19 carve-out, but it will not go into effect until June 1,
Continue Reading A Swing and a Miss: Right to Conscience Objections to COVID-19 Vaccinations to Endure Until June 2022
By Daniel I. Small and Robert S. Whitman
Seyfarth Synopsis: The deadline for employers to distribute their airborne disease prevention safety plan and post the plan in the workplace is approaching.
As previously reported, the New York Department of Labor has published general and industry-specific model disease prevention protocols under the New York HERO Act. Employers were required to
Continue Reading NY HERO Act Update: Deadline to Distribute and Post Safety Plan Days Away
By James L. Curtis, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: Labelling the Delta-variant surge as the “Pandemic of the Unvaccinated,” on August 26, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Prtizker announced that Illinois residents must wear masks indoors, and that school and health care staff must be vaccinated.
Cook County and the City of Chicago both had
Continue Reading Illinois Governor Announces Mask Mandate for All Indoor Settings, Regardless of Vaccination
By Benjamin J.Conley and Diane V. Dygert
Seyfarth Synopsis: As employers continue to struggle with strategies for safely re-opening their workplaces, we have previously discussed the possibility of mandating a vaccine or providing incentives for getting the vaccine. See Did You Get Your Vaccine Yet… Your Employer May Offer You an Incentive, and Employers’ Mandating the COVID-19 Vaccine
Continue Reading Anti-Vax Tax Facts Legal Considerations for Premium Differentials Based on Vaccination Status
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, II. Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the FDA approved Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA), previously known as Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19
Continue Reading FDA Grants Full Approval to the Pfizer Vaccine
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, II. Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today OSHA updated its Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread
Continue Reading OSHA Issues Updated Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace