Squire Patton Boggs’ Legal Intern Amber Bouie addresses new legislation impacting Texas employers. COVID-19 vaccinations have been the subject of workplace chatter since the vaccines became widely available in late 2020. At first, some states barred government employers from requiring employees receive vaccinations as a condition of continued employment, leaving private sector policies up to … 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
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
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
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
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
As expected, New York City published guidance yesterday designed to help covered employers implement the City’s recently announced order mandating COVID-19 vaccines for private sector workers. What Is Required? For any Workplace in NYC, Covered Employers must ensure that they receive proof of vaccination against COVID-19 from all of their in-person workers by December 27, … Continue Reading
UPDATE (12/10/21): Justice Frank Nervo issued an amended order, filed December 9, 2021, clarifying that New York City’s municipal-worker mandate remains in effect until the scheduled December 14, 2021 hearing. On Monday, December 6, 2021, New York City’s outgoing mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced a “first-in-the-nation” COVID-19 vaccine mandate, requiring that all private sector employees … 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 November 29, 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, … Continue Reading
On December 1, we discussed a decision issued by the Eastern District of Kentucky enjoining implementation of President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, querying whether similar challenges would likewise result in injunctive relief. As we portended, on December 7, a federal judge in the Southern District of Georgia issued a broader … Continue Reading
In response to the global spread of the Omicron variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shortened the timeline for the pre-departure COVID testing requirement to one day applicable to in-bound travelers to the United States. Per the CDC announcement, effective on or after 12:01 am EST on December 6, 2021, “all air … Continue Reading
In the latest in a series of judicial decisions impeding executive agency action that had been aimed at slowing COVID-19 vaccination rates in the U.S. (see here and here), on November 30, 2021, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 which … Continue Reading
Our colleague Colter Paulson at Squire Patton Boggs’ Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog provides an update on the status of the lawsuits challenging OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 vaccination and testing. Employers across the United States are wondering whether they need to comply with OSHA’s original, rapidly-approaching December 6th and January 4th deadlines. And while … Continue Reading
On November 5, 2021, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) issued an emergency regulation requiring that many types of health care facilities and providers that receive Medicare or Medicaid funds ensure that their staff, contractors, and volunteers receive at least their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by December 6, 2021 and be fully … Continue Reading
Following its November 8, 2021 move to remove and replace all regional COVID-19 Travel bans with a blanket vaccination requirement, the Biden administration announced a new COVID-19 travel ban on those seeking to enter the U.S. from various African nations. The new Proclamation bars most non-U.S. citizens who have been physically present in the following … Continue Reading
Our colleagues Shams Hirji and Colter Paulson at SPB’s Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog provide an update on the latest legal maneuvers involving OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard requiring larger US employers to require employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing and other infection prevention measures. At 2:28 a.m. this morning [November 23, 2021], … Continue Reading
After at least 34 lawsuits were filed nationwide seeking to permanently stay or rule unconstitutional the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) announced by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which would have required that employers with 100 or more employees ensure their workers are fully vaccinated or test at least weekly for COVID-19, OSHA … Continue Reading
Originally posted on Squire Patton Boggs’ Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog Sometimes federal courts of appeals get to play the lottery. The prize is not millions of dollars, but the chance to adjudicate every challenge to a particular federal agency action filed in federal circuit court. The Sixth Circuit won that lottery yesterday afternoon. At issue is OSHA’s … Continue Reading