Things have surely come to a pretty pass when it is front page news twice in two weeks that the Government has decided not to press on with doing something daft. First, the abandonment of smart motorways and last week, reports that the Government has backed away from its original proposal to wipe all EU-sourced … Continue Reading
On 1 May, the Italian government’s Council of Ministers approved a new “Labour Decree” that will make significant changes to current employment law provisions. The final text of the Decree has not yet been published in the Official Gazette, but below is a summary of the main provisions that will affect employers based on the … Continue Reading
On May 1, 2023, the White House announced that the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for nonimmigrant international air travelers will end as of the end of the day on May 11, 2023. Implemented in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the mandate required all nonimmigrant travelers arriving in the US by air to … Continue Reading
There is a growing emphasis on the need to properly manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace that may create a risk to workers’ health and safety. But recent changes to safety laws indicate that psychosocial hazards include the potentially subjective concept of “poor organisational justice”. Have things gone too far, or is “poor organisational justice” … Continue Reading
State and local legislatures were active throughout 2022 in passing laws and ordinances that will impact employers of all sizes and all industries in 2023. Click HERE for our summary of these laws and related developments, including important developments in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and elsewhere! If you haven’t already, you might also want … Continue Reading
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just announced, effective January 5, 2023 at 12:01 AM EST, airline passengers (two years of age and older) traveling from mainland China (Peoples Republic of China (PRC)) and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong or Macau must provide either a negative COVID test or documentation … Continue Reading
So if in some parallel universe you had somehow acquired the ability to strike red lines through EU-derived employment legislation, where would you put them? That is a question I put well before the Brexit Referendum to countless HR audiences, the very people one might think would be straining at the leash to make changes … Continue Reading
California’s active legislative year has finally come to a close, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing several new laws to further regulate the workplace. Summarized below are the laws expected to most significantly impact California employers. Unless otherwise stated, these new laws take effect January 1, 2023.… Continue Reading
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) revised its definition for what constitutes a “close contact” for purposes of Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).[1] The revised definition will likely be good news for big box retailers, large manufacturers and warehouses. The rest of the state will remain bound by the existing standard.… Continue Reading
On Monday, September 20, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the City’s private sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate will expire on November 1, 2022. For now, the approximately 184,000 employers currently covered by the mandate will have to continue to exclude their unvaccinated workers from the workplace. However, beginning November 1, businesses will have … Continue Reading
On July 12, 2022, the EEOC updated its informal COVID-19 guidance to employers in a number of significant and surprising ways, most of which call for more nuanced assessment of community risk and consideration of evolving public health guidance:… Continue Reading
For the last year or so the EU Commission has been working on the world’s first serious attempt to create a regulatory framework around the use of AI, the Artificial Intelligence Act. The Proposal itself runs to over 100 pages of dense type and no pictures, so is a fairly off-putting read at first look. … Continue Reading
So with Covid 19 now officially behind us for all purposes (except actual reality, obviously), we have now been graced by the Government’s new “Living with Covid” guidance. This was due to come into force on 1 April and was released fashionably late in the afternoon on, well, 1st April. You could say with some … Continue Reading
So you have finally introduced a no-jab, no entry policy in your workplace and now the government seems intent on pulling the rug on the whole thing by agreeing that even workers with some of the UK’s most vulnerable people don’t need to be vaccinated after all. If they don’t need the jab, on what … Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of January 17, 2022. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, … Continue Reading
As was anticipated by many, on Tuesday, January 25, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced the withdrawal of its November 2021 “Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) that would have required private sector US employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees or require them to comply with … Continue Reading
So is that it, then? Is Covid behind us for all practical purposes in England, no masks, no working from home, no vaccination passes, all going or gone? Or, in nearly the words of Mark Twain, are reports of the death of Plan B greatly exaggerated? Obviously, no one would suggest any connection between this … Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of January 10, 2022. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week. In this issue, … Continue Reading
By now, employers know that on January 13, the United States Supreme Court stayed the controversial “Emergency Temporary Standard” (ETS) issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety Administration (OSHA). (See our post discussing the Court’s ruling here). Now that the dust has settled somewhat, employers that would have been subject to the ETS had the Supreme … Continue Reading
In a per curiam majority decision issued on January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) that would have obligated employers with 100 or more U.S. employees to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or weekly COVID-19 testing, plus imposed … Continue Reading
From our Capital Thinking blog, our public policy colleague Stacy Swanson shares the latest federal employment law developments in in the legislative and executive branches during the week of December 27, 2021. *** This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week.In this issue, we … Continue Reading
In a pair of orders consolidating several pending cases, on December 22, 2021, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear emergency appeals from orders from multiple federal appellate courts relating to two of the pending COVID-19 vaccine mandates – the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and … Continue Reading
As we reported previously, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay of enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard, which requires employers with 100 or more U.S. employees to ensure by January 4, 2022 that their workforces are fully vaccinated or ensure they test negative at least weekly … Continue Reading
In the latest chapter in the dizzying fight over private employer vaccine mandates, on December 17, 2021, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a sister appellate court’s stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) requirement that employers with 100 or more U.S. employees require vaccination or weekly testing and face coverings as … Continue Reading
