Category: Workplace Safety & Health

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was already underway in many state and municipal legislatures, with some requirements having previously been repealed […]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. […]

March 20, 2023

OSHA Will Regulate the Cannabis Industry Federal courts and regulating bodies have already demonstrated an interest in enforcing federal employment laws in the marijuana industry, despite the fact that cannabis remains classified as an illegal substance under the Controlled Substance […]

February 20, 2023

The California Office of Administrative Law has approved the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations (Non-Emergency Regulations). As a result, on February 3, 2023, Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) expired, and the […]

February 9, 2023

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new technical assistance, “Hearing Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” addressing how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to job applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. The series […]

February 6, 2023

On December 15, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulation to replace the Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), which were set to end on December 31, 2022. On February 3, 2023, the Office […]

January 30, 2023

On January 24, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released updated guidance on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) applies to job applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. The guidance provides information about hearing conditions as a disability […]

January 27, 2023

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (“CAA”) (the $1.7 trillion government funding bill) includes provisions that provide Federal workplace protections for pregnant and nursing moms.[1] When President Biden signed the CAA on December 29, 2022, two new laws went into […]

January 20, 2023

As part of the bill funding the federal government, President Biden signed into law the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). These relatively unknown laws are important pieces of legislation carrying with […]

January 18, 2023

Because employees spend a lot of time at work, it’s not uncommon for medical emergencies and flare-ups of chronic conditions to occur at the workplace. Workers may experience events like heart attacks, hernias, fainting, asthma attacks or acute appendicitis. If […]