CoAdvantage- The short answer is a qualified yes. Employers can require their employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance last December addressing this question. The bottom-line answer: yes, employers can mandate that employees get the vaccine. However, such a mandate would introduce a host of legal (and logistical)[…]
CoAdvantage- There’s no shortage of potentially business-ending risks facing today’s employers. Every crisis, from relatively petty PR crises to actual life-threatening events like a deadly global pandemic, has the power to devastate a business. Always, the burden is on business leaders to set course and sail through such dangerous times. The old axiom applies here:[…]
CoAdvantage- In a recent article about how to protect at-risk workers from COVID-19 while still complying with all applicable labor laws, we brought up the concept of “reasonable accommodation.” Because the idea of reasonable accommodation is so important in this situation, it’s worth exploring in more detail. To start, what is reasonable accommodation? According to[…]
CoAdvantage- With the COVID-19 pandemic making physical workplaces high-risk avenues of disease transmission, a vast number of workers were forced to transition to a work-from-home program in 2020. Now, with new vaccines now in distribution, the new year brings with it hope for an end to the pandemic. Even so, however, remote working and work-from-home[…]
CoAdvantage- Many employers have been trying their hardest to protect their workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, that has meant taking special precautions when it comes to their employees with the most risk factors for COVID-19, such as older workers or those with pre-existing health conditions. Some workers will request accommodation on their[…]
CoAdvantage- What happens if the COVID-19 pandemic, when it collides with the seasonal flu this winter, turns into a “twindemic” with both illnesses running rampant? The prospect has health experts worried. “We could see a perfect storm of accelerated COVID-19 activity as people gather more inside in particular, as they become increasingly fatigued with the[…]
CoAdvantage- With major holidays like Thanksgiving and New Year’s; religious observances like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza; and plenty of office parties in-between, the season of workplace celebrations is upon us. This presents great opportunities for employers to demonstrate employee appreciation, boost morale and engagement, and just have a little fun – especially this year. However,[…]
CoAdvantage- Since the pandemic began, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been flooded with thousands of complaints by workers concerned they have been exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. Complaints allege a variety of incidents that may violate OSHA’s requirements that employers maintain safe working environments, including: Insufficient protective gear provided to workers[…]
CoAdvantage- In general, employers are prohibited by anti-discrimination and privacy regulations from delving too deeply into employees’ medical histories and conditions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented threat to workplace health and safety, so the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued guidelines that specify employers may require COVID-19 testing and may require a[…]
CoAdvantage- In the aftermath of a wave of lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders, and quarantines to prevent the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19, U.S. businesses are slowly reopening. These lockdowns have been devastating in their own way: 43 states are facing record unemployment rates, and the national unemployment rate jumped from 4.4% in March to a staggering 14.7%[…]
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