Safety/Health

Bosses, not staff, should enforce mask rules

08/04/2020

“Do not ask or expect a nonmanagement employee to handle removal of a noncompliant visitor, guest or customer,” advised the Fisher Phillips employment law firm in a recent blog post.

OSHA issues guidance on reopening facilities

07/30/2020

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a set of frequently asked questions to help employers as they attempt to fully or partially reopen their workplaces.

More employers mandate masks to cut risks

07/23/2020

Sure, those face masks have been proven to help cut the spread of coronavirus. But employment lawyers say there’s another good reason to mandate them in the workplace for staff and customers—masks can reduce the spread of lawsuits, too.

Are laws limiting covid-19 liability on the horizon in Congress, states?

07/21/2020

Republican leaders in Congress are saying that any new coronavirus aid or stimulus legislation must also include a provision that limits an organization’s liability if customers, vendors or employees contract covid-19 through their normal interactions with the business.

Which safety measures do employees really want?

07/21/2020

A Harris Poll of 2,000 U.S. workers says these are the top five safety measures (in order) they feel would be critical to help them feel safe in their workplace.

If family member is ‘high risk,’ must you accommodate?

07/16/2020

An employee [does not want to come into work/wants to work from home/wants a leave of absence] because he or she lives with someone who is at high risk for coronavirus complications. What do we do?

Employee tests positive? How to notify staff

07/16/2020

Millions of Americans have tested positive for the coronavirus, so odds are that one or more of your employees will test positive in the coming months. But there is a smart (and legal) way to communicate this news to your employees.

Prepare for ADA suits driven by health fears

07/09/2020

Simultaneous health and financial crises have given us all plenty to fear. Surely you are doing your best to prove to employees that your workplace is safe. Most will be assured. However, a small subset of workers may remain paralyzed by safety concerns.

Union pushes for national covid safety rules

07/09/2020

The AFL-CIO labor union is leaning hard on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a binding emergency workplace safety standard for dealing with covid-19.

Spring regulatory agenda addresses contractor, wellness issues

07/07/2020

The Trump administration’s Spring 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions—released late, on June 30—spells out what it hopes to accomplish between now and the end of the year.