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On April 30, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced the release of a new artificial intelligence (AI) landing page. Following the link, the OFCCP provides 10 FAQs following by “promising practices” on the development and use of AI by federal contractors. While the promising practices aren’t expressly required, the agency describes them […]
On April 29, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final harassment guidance, updating the previous version with Bostock, #MeToo, and remote work issues. The most controversial guidance involves broad protections of LGBTQ+ employees, especially transgender employees, which the EEOC believes is a natural extension of the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision and has already drawn the expected […]
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in SFFA v. Harvard/ UNC, opponents of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have launched an all-out attack on corporate DEI programs. Recently, however, the courts have offered some guidance to beleaguered corporations trying to determine how to avoid litigation over their DEI programs. Guidance on Race-Neutral Admission Policy In […]
Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance titled “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.” The new guidance, which is advisory, addresses not only some of the more commonplace safety practices but also other employment policies and practices not as readily associated with workplace safety.
New guidance for employers related to COVID-19 doesn’t create new mandatory standards, but the tone of the guidance is a signal from the Biden administration of more support for enforcement, according to attorneys focusing on workplace safety issues.
As a follow-up to its May 2020 enforcement guidelines on recording workplace COVID-19 cases, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued additional guidance to employers for reporting coronavirus-related hospitalizations and fatalities.
Employers may be tempted to view new civil immunity laws in many states as providing protection and certainty against coronavirus-related claims. On closer review, however, the new laws’ limited benefits mean you must keep caution and vigilance as top priorities.
In recognizing that remote work is here to stay for many employees, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance on how employers can use virtual means to distribute and maintain the various posters required by federal employment laws.
In late 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance on quarantining: In certain circumstances, individuals potentially exposed to COVID-19 by being in “close contact” with a person who tested positive can take steps to reduce the length of the standard 14-day quarantine period.
From the rapid shutdown of the workplace, to the gradual return to the office, to the day-by-day challenges of coping with stress and dealing with guidance updates, COVID-19 has certainly kept me on my toes. Here are some reflections on when the virus became reality, where it has taken us this past year, and how […]