Author: sunger

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers required their employees to work remotely to comply with state mandates and ensure their employees’ and customers’ health and safety. That resulted in a shift in attitudes about work-from-home policies.

What began as a necessity has shifted to a preference. A majority of employees believe that significant portions of their job functions can be performed remotely. Furthermore, most employees wish to continue to work from home at least part of the time. Market factors and employers’ desires to retain their talented, trained employees have resulted in employers implementing remote work policies. Read More about Potential Legal Implications of Remote Work Policies

The United States Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Rehabilitation Act.

On July 12, 2022, the EEOC announced that employers should take more factors into consideration when choosing whether to screen employees for Covid-19. Now, “employers will need to access whether current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances justify viral screening testing” for employees in an update to its technical assistance guidance (https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws#A.6). The EEOC found that a “Covid-19 test is a medical examination within the meaning of the [Americans with Disabilities Act].” As a result, if an employer requires mandatory medical tests of employees, they must “be job-related and consistent with business necessity.”

Read More about Workplace COVID Testing Must Be “Business Necessity” United States Equal Opportunity Commission Says

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) covers employers with 100 or more employees. OSHA announced a rule that companies who have 100 or more employees must ensure that their workforce is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before January 4, 2022, or they must test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week.

Read More about Vaccine Rules for Employers with over 100 Employees: Here Are the Details

Last month, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued an important decision concerning whether or not a supervisor’s use of two offensive racial slurs could support a hostile work environment claim under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). Rios v. Meda Pharm, Inc., 2021 N.J. Lexis 553 (2020).

Read More about New Jersey Supreme Court Holds That Two Highly Offensive Comments Could Trigger Employer Liability Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination

The EEOC stated that employers can now order their employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccination shot, provided that they comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), religious exceptions, and other laws.

Read More about The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Says Employers Can Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines