DOL’s 2023 Priorities, Per Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. Additional personnel topped Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s wish list for 2023 as he laid out next year’s proposed budget at a hearing in front of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. During the hearing, Secretary Walsh was candid: “To be completely honest, I need more
Continue Reading Seyfarth Policy Matters Newsletter – May 20, 2022
ETS
California Loosens Indoor Masking Requirements for the Unvaccinated
By Chantelle C. Egan, Bernard Olshansky, Patrick D. Joyce, and Ilana Morady
Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 28, 2022, California’s Governor Newsom issued a press release lifting California’s mask requirements for unvaccinated individuals in indoor settings, downgrading the former requirement to a strong recommendation, effective March 1, 2022. The same day, the California Department of Public Health …
Continue Reading California Loosens Indoor Masking Requirements for the Unvaccinated
Latest Biden Administration Order Requires Some Employers to Pay for Cost of COVID Testing
By Benjamin J.Conley and Adam R. Young
Seyfarth Synopsis: The OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) will require unvaccinated employees to submit weekly COVID-19 testing results by February 9, 2022. New guidance from the Biden Administration could require employer health plans to reimburse the cost of at-home COVID testing in certain circumstances, creating confusion for employers on …
Continue Reading Latest Biden Administration Order Requires Some Employers to Pay for Cost of COVID Testing
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Selected to Rule on OSHA COVID ETS Per Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
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
What Must Employers Do to Comply with OSHA’s ETS? Check out our Checklist for Answers
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
OSHA Issues ETS for Public Inspection with January 4, 2022 Vaccination Deadline
By Scott Hecker, Adam Young, Noah Finkel, David Baffa, Joshua Seidman, Laura Maechtlen, Camille Olson, Kristin McGurn, Lawrence Lorber, Brent Clark, Jim Curtis, Ben Briggs and Patrick D. Joyce
Seyfarth Synopsis: The much-anticipated OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) posted …
Continue Reading OSHA Issues ETS for Public Inspection with January 4, 2022 Vaccination Deadline
A Swing and a Miss: Right to Conscience Objections to COVID-19 Vaccinations to Endure Until June 2022
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
OSHA Adopts Directive for Inspection Procedures and Enforcement Policies for COVID-19 ETS, Shedding Light on Enforcement Priorities Related to Medical Removal Pay Provisions
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Mark A. Lies, II, Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 28, 2021, OSHA published a Compliance Directive, DIR 2021-02 (CPL 02), covering inspection procedures and enforcement policies for the Emergency …
Continue Reading OSHA Adopts Directive for Inspection Procedures and Enforcement Policies for COVID-19 ETS, Shedding Light on Enforcement Priorities Related to Medical Removal Pay Provisions
OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard Narrowly Focused on the Health Care Sector, Guidance Updated for Other Sectors
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: On June 9, 2021, at the tail end of prepared remarks before …
Continue Reading OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard Narrowly Focused on the Health Care Sector, Guidance Updated for Other Sectors
The Never Ending Story – More COVID-19 Guidance for New York: Adoption of an Emergency Regulation for Face Coverings and Proposed Rollbacks of Industry-Specific Guidance
By Lorie E. Almon, Meredith-Anne Berger, Anne R. Dana, and Glenn J. Smith
Seyfarth Synopsis: With no fanfare or effective means of publication, New York adopted an emergency regulation, effective May 26, 2021, implementing the latest CDC guidance on face coverings, with certain key exceptions. Notably, face coverings are required for unvaccinated food service workers at all …
Continue Reading The Never Ending Story – More COVID-19 Guidance for New York: Adoption of an Emergency Regulation for Face Coverings and Proposed Rollbacks of Industry-Specific Guidance