Category: Workplace Safety & Health

September 12, 2023

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (“OSHA”) can conduct inspections for several reasons, including as a response to an employee complaint, after the report of a fatality or injury, and in accordance with an emphasis program. The reasonable scope of […]

August 28, 2023

On August 8, 2023, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued opinions in Mills v. Hartford HealthCare Corp.and Manginelli v. Regency House of Wallingford, Inc. that addressed the scope of immunity for health care workers and facilities under Governor Ned Lamont’s Executive […]

August 23, 2023

Background and Proposed Changes Currently, California has an Outdoor Heat Illness Regulation for all outdoor places of employment. That regulation has been in effect for more than a decade, and Cal/OSHA regularly and aggressively enforces it throughout California. The May […]

August 4, 2023

Recently, things may have sped up a little in your doctor’s office. The notes for your recent visit may have been organized and filed a little more quickly. You might have received assistance sooner than expected with a physician letter […]

July 27, 2023

There’s a growing momentum to establish federal standards to prevent heat illness in the workplace, as temperatures hit record levels in many parts of the U.S. and Europe. President Joe Biden outlined steps the federal government will take to protect […]

June 30, 2023

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued new guidance, Notice 2023-37, which states that for plan years ending after December 31, 2024, HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) will no longer be permitted to cover COVID-19 testing and treatment before the […]

June 13, 2023

Introduction Following the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, the federal government, pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order (the EO) took several steps to protect reproductive health privacy, some of which we […]

June 8, 2023

On May 16, 2023, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (the “GC”) issued revisions to her original July 6, 2020 memorandum of suggested manual election protocols for use during the COVID-19 pandemic, found here. The Board’s policies have […]

May 25, 2023

Health officials in Snohomish County, WA, are warning people who ate at two Taco Bell locations to monitor themselves for signs of hepatitis A infections and get vaccinated if they are not already. “People who ate food from the Taco […]

May 16, 2023

It has been a while since I blogged on the EEOC running Covid-19 guidance. The EEOC just came out with some more updates (it very well could be the last one for a while considering Covid-19 is now endemic), so […]

May 9, 2023

As we have reported previously, on April 10, 2023 President Biden signed legislation ending the COVID-19 National Emergency. However, the rollback of COVID-19 requirements was already underway in many state and municipal legislatures, with some requirements having previously been repealed […]

May 8, 2023

On April 12, 2023, the Biden administration announced a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the agency responsible for enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act […]

May 2, 2023

On May 1, 2023, President Biden issued a statement announcing the end of the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including those impacting federal contractors and CMS-covered healthcare employers, among others. But what impact does this have on employer vaccine mandates? As […]

April 25, 2023

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has announced that several notifications of enforcement discretion issued during the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”) will expire concurrently with the expiration of the PHE on May […]

April 24, 2023

Debt Ceiling Text Released On April 19, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) unveiled the bill text of his proposal for raising the debt ceiling, cutting federal spending and negating some of President Biden’s priorities and initiatives. The Speaker plans to bring […]

April 19, 2023

The Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services have jointly issued FAQs responding to the district court decision in Braidwood v. Bacerra that invalidated certain preventive care coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are […]

April 14, 2023

On April 12, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Notice” or “NPRM”) to solicit comments on proposed modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule related to reproductive […]

April 11, 2023

Losing a loved one is one of the most challenging times for employees, and employers often show support by providing time off and resources to help them deal with their grief. Due to changes in the law and a shift […]

April 7, 2023

On March 15, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued initial program guidance related to implementation of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. CMS requested public comments on selected portions of the guidance by April 14, 2023. […]

April 6, 2023

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) published a request for information (RFI) on April 5, 2023, seeking public input in updating the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Research Strategy. 88 Fed. Reg. […]