Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
While the world held its collective breath last month as search teams desperately looked for a missing submersible carrying five Titanic tourists, news reports began circulating of a former OceanGate director of marine operations who was allegedly fired for raising safety concerns years earlier regarding that same vessel. Sadly, the rescue mission soon turned into […]
As summer heats up, employers in the Southwest should keep a close eye on how heat affects their workforce. Heat-related illness is a hot topic for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as state OSHA plans. Recently, an unusual settlement involved the Department of Labor (DOL) and OSHA over several heat […]
Last fall, we were furiously drafting mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policies for a variety of employers, including healthcare facilities, employers with more than 100 employees, and federal contractors. With the back and forth of whether a court would block implementation of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates, many of those policies were left in a state of […]
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is moving forward with plans to issue a permanent rule aimed at requiring employees of large employers to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face weekly testing. OSHA announced on January 25 it is withdrawing the emergency temporary standard (ETS) it issued on November 5 and that […]
Effective Wednesday, January 26, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is withdrawing its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS), which would have mandated vaccination or weekly testing/masking requirements for employers with 100 or more employees. After the U.S. Supreme Court last week found the ETS to be an unconstitutional exercise of power and stayed the […]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of a major part of the Biden administration’s plan to boost the vaccination of workers against COVID-19 means many large employers can stand down on their plans to comply with a rule requiring the shots or testing, but they are free to institute their own mandates as long as such […]
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decisions about the COVID-19 vaccine mandates issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for employers with at least 100 employees, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for healthcare workers. In a 6-3 decision, the Court reimposed a “stay” (or hold) on […]
Late Friday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision “dissolving” the 5th Circuit’s stay order preventing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing rule for employers with 100 or more employees. The next day, OSHA announced January 10 is the new deadline for […]
In the aftermath of the Astroworld music festival gone wrong, event organizers are reconsidering the safety risks at large events. Live Nation and other organizers of the Houston festival are facing numerous lawsuits based on injuries and deaths caused by the failure to host the concert safely. Organizers’ awareness of the risks presented at the […]
Employers with more than 100 employees have begun scrambling to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. To learn more about five things larger employers should do to adhere to the new rules, read on.