workplace

Lake Effect / workplace

OSHA Recommends Measures to Reduce Workplace Spread of COVID-19

Responding to a directive from the Biden administration, OSHA posted new guidance on January 29, 2021 to help non-healthcare employers identify COVID-19 risks and implement effective measures to minimize its spread in the workplace. The guidance is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It is advisory in nature, containing recommendations and detailed descriptions of existing safety and health regulations. However, it will likely be one yardstick used to measure compliance with OSHA’s “General Duty Clause,” which requires employers to provide workers with a workplace free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious harm.

The new guidance specifies that implementing a workplace COVID-19 prevention program is the most effective way to reduce its spread at work. An effective program includes such elements as:

  • Assigning a workplace coordinator responsible for COVID-19 issues.
  • Identifying where and how employees might be exposed at work.
  • Identifying a combination of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 at work including separating and sending home potentially infected employees, implementing physical distancing and barriers, requiring face coverings, improving ventilation, and using applicable PPE, as well as good hygiene and cleaning/disinfection practices.
  • Providing reasonable accommodations or modifications to workers at higher risk of severe illness.
  • Effectively communicating with employees about COVID-19 in a language they understand and providing them with guidance on screening and testing.
  • Educating and training employees on COVID-19 policies and procedures.
  • Minimizing the negative impact of quarantine and isolation on workers by allowing telework or work at alternative locations where possible.
  • Recording and reporting COVID-19 infections and deaths consistent with applicable OSHA requirements. See Lake Effect’s blogs on this issue.
  • Establishing a process for employees to anonymously express concerns about COVID-19 hazards and ensuring that they are not discriminated or retaliated against in any way.
  • Making COVID-19 vaccines available to employees and requiring all employees to follow preventive practices, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.  See Lake Effect’s blog on this issue.

This is not an exhaustive list of OSHA’s new recommendations, and this new guidance contains detailed information about each aspect of an effective workplace COVID-19 prevention program. Employers should work closely with legal counsel to understand all requirements and implement a COVID-19 workplace prevention program consistent with this new OSHA guidance. Lake Effect is here to help you through this process and ensure that you are taking all possible steps to provide a workplace free from the recognized hazards created by the COVID-19.

COVID-19 Resources / Legal - 02/01/2021

Biden Administration Impact on the Workplace

Just one week into his administration, President Biden has signaled that he will take a fresh look at current issues affecting American workers and workplaces. His recent executive orders and memoranda include the following actions:

  • Halt Final Rules governing tip pools and independent contractors: This Executive memorandum stays pending final rules that have been published but which had not yet taken effect to allow the Biden Administration to review their impact. This also directs that any rules which had been sent to the Federal Register but had not yet been published must be immediately withdrawn for review. This results in a stay of the Independent Contract Final Rule and the new Tip Pooling Rule. As a result, the Department of Labor has withdrawn 3 opinion letters related to those rules. See Lake Effect’s previous blogs on the Independent Contractor Final Rule, the Tip Pooling Final Rule, and two of the tip pool opinion letters.
  • Expand COVID-related unemployment benefits: This Executive Order permits employees who refuse work based on COVID health-related concerns to receive unemployment benefits.
  • Promote racial equity: This Executive Order directs the Biden administration to conduct equity assessments of its agencies and reallocate resources to “advanc[e] equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.”
  • Reaffirm gender equity: This Executive Order expands protections against discrimination based on sex in federal agencies to explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. This does not have a direct impact on private employers, but does follow the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (see Lake Effect’s blog here).
  • Enhance COVID-related workplace safety: This Executive Order requires administrative agencies to take “swift action to reduce the risk that workers may contract COVID-19 in the workplace.” This will most likely result in action from OSHA setting forth “science-based guidance to help keep workers safe from COVID-19 exposure, including with respect to mask-wearing; partnering with State and local governments to better protect public employees; enforcing worker health and safety requirements; and pushing for additional resources to help employers protect employees.”

The attorneys and HR professionals at Lake Effect will continue to closely monitor the Biden administration’s executive actions, legislative developments, and their impact on workplaces.

Human Resources / Legal - 01/27/2021

New CDC Guidance Requires Informed Consent for Workplace COVID-19 Testing

On January 21, 2021, the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued new guidance for non-healthcare employers who conduct workplace COVID-19 testing. While the CDC previously confirmed that workplace testing is permissible as part of a comprehensive approach to reducing virus transmission, the new guidance clarifies that it should not be conducted without employees’ informed consent. According to the CDC, “informed consent requires disclosure, understanding, and free choice, and is necessary for an employee to act independently and make choices according to their values, goals, and preferences.”

According to the CDC, employers should adopt at least the following measures to promote free decision-making and informed consent to COVID-19 testing in the workplace:

  • Implement safeguards to protect employee privacy and confidentiality.
  • Provide complete and understandable information about how a testing program may impact employees’ lives, such as whether a positive test result or refusal to participate in testing may mean exclusion from work for any period of time.
  • Explain parts of the testing program that would be particularly important to employees as they decide whether to participate (i.e., key reasons that may guide their decision).
  • Inform employees about the testing program in their preferred languages using clear, non-technical terms. Solicit employee input on the readability of the information.
  • Train supervisors and managers on their roles and responsibilities regarding testing and encourage them to avoid pressuring employees to participate in testing.
  • Consider the consent process as an active information-sharing process between the employer and the employee. Throughout the process, encourage and answer employees’ questions, facilitate their understanding, and promote their free choice.

In addition, employers must ensure the disclosures listed below are made to employees:

  • The manufacturer and name of the test.
  • The type of test and its purpose.
  • How the test will be performed.
  • The known and potential risks of harm, discomforts, and benefits of the test.
  • What it means to have a positive or negative test result, including test reliability and limitations and any public health guidance triggered by a particular result.

Many of these are contained in the FDA’s emergency use authorization patient fact sheet for each approved COVID-19 test (scroll down on the linked page to find the test-specific fact sheet), which must be provided to any party receiving that test.

Employers who conduct workplace COVID-19 testing must develop plans to address a host of other testing-related topics and questions, including:

  • Their reasons for testing, frequency of testing, and consequences to employees of testing/non-testing.
  • Locations, scheduling, procedures, and payment for testing.
  • Communication and interpretation of test results, applicable leaves and/or benefit policies.
  • Personal information needed to test and privacy of results.
  • Internal resources for employees who need additional information, assistance, treatment after test procedure.

Given the CDC’s detailed requirements for informed consent and disclosures relating to workplace-based COVID-19 testing, employers in non-healthcare settings should proceed cautiously when considering the implementation of testing programs or protocols. Rather than conduct workplace testing, some employers may be well-advised to minimize administrative burdens and legal exposure by strongly encouraging employees to undergo frequent COVID-19 testing administered by reliable, unrelated third parties.

COVID-19 Resources / Legal - 01/26/2021

CDC Updates Guidance on COVID-19 Quarantine

On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance on how long a person should quarantine after exposure to someone with COVID-19. “Quarantine” keeps someone who has been in close contact with a known COVID-19 case away from others to prevent the spread of the virus.

The CDC’s current recommendation is that an exposed individual should quarantine for 14 days after last exposure. The CDC continues to endorse its existing 14-day quarantine recommendation. However, the CDC’s new guidance recognizes that reducing the length of quarantine in some instances may make it easier for people to quarantine by reducing economic hardship if they cannot work during that time. A shorter quarantine period may also reduce stress on the public health system.
Under its new guidance, the CDC provides two additional, abbreviated options for the length of quarantine. Assuming a person does not develop any symptoms of the virus:

  • Quarantine may end on the 10th day after exposure without testing
  • Quarantine may end on the 7th day after exposure with the receipt of a negative test result

After ending quarantine under either abbreviated option, a person should continue to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms until 14 days after exposure, wear a mask, stay 6 feet away from others, and take other recommended mitigation measures. If symptoms develop at any time, the person should immediately self-isolate.

Finally, the CDC guidance reaffirms that local public health authorities make final decisions about how long quarantines should last in their respective communities, based on local conditions and needs. Businesses and organizations should thus be aware of the CDC’s updated guidance, but they should continue to follow the specific quarantine recommendations of their local health departments.

Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about protecting your workforce and complying with CDC guidelines, state, and local public health orders. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, including COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.

COVID-19 Resources - 12/04/2020

Close Contact in the Workplace: Think 6-15-24-48

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The CDC has updated its definition of “close contact” and it is now referred to as the “6-15-24-48 analysis.” The updated guidance defines a “close contact” as someone who was:

  • within 6 feet of an infected person
  • for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more
  • over a 24-hour period
  • starting from two days (48 hours) before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, two days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.

Employers who have employees experiencing COVID-related symptoms or who have tested positive for COVID should ask the employee to identify others with whom they were in close contact as described above. Note, the new definition now includes individuals with whom the employee was in contact for shorter periods of time that add up to 15 minutes or more within a 24 hour period. For example, this would cover contacts lasting five minutes at lunch, five minutes at the end of the workday, and 5 minutes the next morning.

As employers continue to monitor and respond to COVID-related situations in the workplace, they should update internal policies and procedures to match the current CDC guidelines, as well as guidance from their state or local public health departments or health orders.

As a reminder, these are the current CDC-designated symptoms of COVID-19:

  • Fever or chills
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle or body aches
  • Headache
  • New loss of taste or smell
  • Sore throat
  • Congestion or runny nose
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Diarrhea

Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about employer compliance with state and local public health orders. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, including COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Lake Effect HR & Law is in business to maximize each client’s workplace potential with a commitment to kindness, true partnership, and exceptional service.

COVID-19 Resources - 10/29/2020

FFCRA & FLSA Updated Guidance From The Department Of Labor

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently updated its COVID-19 guidance related to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This guidance from DOL addresses questions employers may confront as their communities face new public health orders and in-person school closures and delays.

FFCRA Guidance

As a reminder, employees may be eligible for up to 80 hours of leave under FFCRA’s Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and up to 12 weeks of leave under FFCRA’s Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). See our FFCRA Overview for the particular requirements of each leave program.

Employers should also note that a district court in New York recently struck down several significant FFCRA regulations, including those EPSLA regulations related to employees on temporary layoff or furlough and the expansive scope of the healthcare provider exemption for both EPSLA and EFLMLEA leaves. The impact of the ruling is not clear at this point, and we expect more information in the near future. We will keep you posted in our blogs about any changes to FFCRA as a result of that legal process and other lawsuits that are currently pending. In the interim, employers should contact legal counsel before denying a FFCRA leave request.

DOL’s guidance on FFCRA includes almost 100 frequently asked questions about the leave programs. Three that are of particular significance relate to virtual school and returning employees:

  • Online Schools Are “Closed”
    • Under the guidance, a school that has moved to an online platform for instruction is “closed” for purposes of FFCRA. (Question #70) This means that employees may be eligible to take up to a total of 14 weeks of continuous or intermittent EPSLA and EFMLEA leave to care for a child whose school is operating virtually. Although not specifically addressed by DOL, this guidance would also apply to schools operating a hybrid model. Under the hybrid model, the school is “closed” on those days in which a student cannot attend the physical school but open on those days when in-person instruction is offered.
    • If the school offers an option for virtual or in-person instruction, the school is not “closed” and FFCRA leave is not available for caregivers who choose the virtual option.
    • Employees who used some of their leave in the spring or summer when schools were closed due to COVID-19 are entitled to use their remaining amount in the fall if they are otherwise eligible.
  • Requiring a Negative COVID-19 Test Before Returning to Work
    • According to DOL, employers may require that an employee test negative for COVID-19 before returning to work from FFCRA leave as long as this requirement applies to all employees. (Question #94)
    • However, requiring a negative test is not mandatory. Dane County employers should note that PHMDC now strongly recommends against requiring employees to test negative before returning to work. Instead, employers may rely on the CDC (or your local public health department) guidelines for monitoring symptoms over a period of time.
  • Employers May Not Discriminate Based on Use of or Eligibility for FFCRA Leave
    • Employers may not use an employee’s request for FFCRA leave, or an assumption that the employee will request leave, to make any employment decision, including whether to recall an employee from furlough. (Question #97)

FLSA Guidance

DOL added important clarifications for non-exempt and exempt employees in its updated FLSA guidance. The updates include:

  • Flexible Scheduling for Non-Exempt Employees
    • To allow “needed flexibility” during the pandemic, employers that allow their non-exempt employees to work remotely with flexible schedules do not need to count all of the time between the first and last work activity during the day as hours worked. Instead, employers only need to pay for those hours actually worked. (Question #15)
    • This flexibility allows “windowed work” for non-exempt employees. Windowed work is breaking up a workday into blocks – or windows – of business and personal time while working from home.
  • Changes to Exempt Employees’ Job Duties and/or Salaries
    • As long as employers continue to pay the required minimum weekly salary of $684, employers may temporarily require exempt employees to perform non-exempt job duties and may prospectively reduce exempt employees’ salaries due to economic reasons related to COVID-19. (Questions #16 and #19)
    • Note that exempt employees must be paid their full salary for any week during which they perform any work, with the exception of their first and last workweeks.

We are closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace. Keep watching for blogs and emails from your Lake Effect team for important legal updates and HR best practices. The attorneys and HR professionals at Lake Effect HR & Law are ready and willing to help. Contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.

COVID-19 Resources - 08/05/2020

Milwaukee Cares Mask Ordinance Effective July 16, 2020

Building Owners and Operators Responsible for Ensuring Compliance

Effective tomorrow, July 16, 2020, the Milwaukee Cares Mask Ordinance will require Milwaukee residents age 3 and older to wear face coverings in indoor public places and outside whenever they are within 6 feet of other people who do not live in their households. The ordinance provides some exceptions, including for:

  • children under the age of 3
  • persons with certain health conditions or disabilities
  • persons obtaining or rendering services such as dental services or medical treatments, where it is not feasible to wear face coverings
  • persons whose religious beliefs prevent them from wearing face coverings
  • persons present in government facilities closed to the public, institutions of higher education, and other public and private schools or childcare facilities that have a mitigation strategy approved by the Commissioner of Health
  • circumstances where it is necessary to verify an individual’s identity

The Milwaukee Cares Mask ordinance is unique in that it holds building owners and operators responsible for ensuring compliance. Any building owner or operator who permits a person to violate the ordinance in their public building is subject to fines of $50-$500 and may face license revocation or closure by the Milwaukee Health Department, which is charged with enforcing the ordinance. The ordinance also specifies that a building owner/operator has the right to refuse entry or service to any person who fails to comply with the face covering mandate.

Dane County’s mask mandate requiring that all individuals 5 and older wear face coverings in every indoor space has been in effect since July 13, 2020. See our blogs on PHMDC Emergency Order #8 for specifics on that mandate.

The Lake Effect team will continue to monitor important updates such as these from counties across the state. Please keep watching for blogs and emails from us for important legal updates and HR best practices. Contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.

COVID-19 Resources - 07/15/2020

Evers Administration Releases Specific Guidance to Prepare for Reopening

On May 8, 2020, the Evers administration released specific guidance on “turning the dial” toward reopening. The guidelines cover such issues as employee health and hygiene; social distancing and other protective measures in the workplace; cleaning and disinfection practices; physical distancing of employees and equipment; employee training, support and communication; and customer/public health and safety considerations. There is general guidance for all organizations to follow, as well as specific guidance for the following industries:

The legal and HR team at Lake Effect is closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace. Please keep watching for blogs and emails from your Lake Effect team for important legal updates and HR best practices. The attorneys and HR professionals at Lake Effect HR & Law are ready and willing to help. Contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.

COVID-19 Resources - 05/08/2020

EEOC Updates ADA Accommodations and EEO Reporting

On May 7, 2020, the EEOC updated an existing technical assistance publication, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and other EEO Laws.” New questions and answers on “Return to Work” address an employer’s obligations to accommodate employees with underlying medical conditions as they begin to return to the workplace during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The EEOC also provided updated guidance on EEO reporting.

The new guidance confirms that if an employee has a medical condition that may create a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 (as identified by the CDC) and is in need of a reasonable accommodation, the employee must inform their employer either verbally or in writing about the medical condition and the potential need for an accommodation. The employer may then ask questions or seek medical documentation to determine whether the employee has a disability that can be reasonably accommodated without undue hardship. Notably, if an employee does not request an accommodation, the employer is not required to take action. If the employer knows and is concerned that an employee has a medical condition that increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (as identified by the CDC), the employer may not exclude that employee from the workplace or take any other adverse action solely on that basis unless (1) the employee’s disability poses a “direct threat” to their health that (2) cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.

The ADA “direct threat” requirement is a high, fact-specific standard. The direct threat assessment may not be based solely on a condition being on the CDC’s list; rather, an employer must make an individualized assessment based upon a reasonable medical judgment about the employee’s specific disability. In most cases, the employer will have to consider such factors as: the severity of the pandemic in the geographic area of the worksite; employee’s specific health condition; the employee’s job duties; likelihood of exposure to the virus at the worksite; and measures being taken by the employer to protect all workers.

Even if an employer determines that an employee’s disability poses a direct threat to the employee’s own health, the employer still cannot exclude or take adverse action against the employee unless there is no way to provide a reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship to the employer. Potential reasonable accommodations may include: providing enhanced protective gear or equipment; erecting protective barriers in the workplace; eliminating marginal functions; and temporarily modifying an employee’s work location or schedule.

This means that an employer may only bar such an employee from the workplace if, after going through all necessary steps and considering all potential accommodations, the facts demonstrate that the employee poses a significant risk of substantial harm to herself that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.

In a separate action today, the EEOC announced that it will delay collection of 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 (Employer Information Report), 2020 EEO-3 (Local Report) and 2020 EEO-5 (Elementary-Secondary Staff Information Report) due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The EEOC expects to begin collecting 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 reports in March 2021, and it expects to begin collecting 2020 EEO-3 and EEO-5 reports in January 2021. The EEOC will notify filers of the precise dates the surveys will open as soon as those dates are available.

The legal and HR team at Lake Effect is closely monitoring the continuing impact of COVID-19 on the workplace and will continue to provide timely updates. Please visit our COVID-19 resource page for all of our pandemic-related legal updates and HR best practices. Contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.

Human Resources / Legal - 05/07/2020

Recovery Readiness Guide For Employers

As businesses prepare to reopen or resume full operations amid COVID-19, there will be new challenges and questions. No one has all the answers, but Lake Effect can help you anticipate some of the issues that are likely to arise as you reopen and/or return more employees to the worksite. We do not know when business will return to “normal,” but employers can put measures in place to be successful and compassionate as we introduce our employees and workplaces to our “new normal.”

Lake Effect has prepared detailed guidance to help employers welcome their teams. Below is an outline of those steps; if you would like to schedule a time to discuss a plan tailored to your organization, please let us know.

As always, the attorneys and HR professionals at Lake Effect HR & Law are available to advise you as you develop plans to restore operations and welcome team members back to the workplace. We look forward to helping our partners bounce back. Contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.

Steps to Welcome Team Members Back to Work in the Wake of COVID-19

STEP 1: MAKE THE DECISION TO RESTORE OPERATIONS

Who will decide?
How will you notify employees?
How will the return be implemented?

STEP 2: RESTORE, RECALL, AND REHIRE EMPLOYEES WHO WERE FURLOUGHED, LAID OFF OR TERMINATED

Furloughed Employees
Laidoff Employees
Terminated Employees
Work-share Program
Other considerations

STEP 3: CHOOSE EFFECTIVE SCHEDULING STRATEGIES

Continue telework for some
Ensuring social distancing
Other considerations

STEP 4: PLAN FOR ENHANCED CLEANING IN THE WORKPLACE

Cleaning plans and practices
Changes in utilization of space and equipment
Possible limitations on plans

STEP 5: EVALUATE PHYSICAL WORKPLACE, PROTECTIVE GEAR AND OTHER SAFEGUARDS

Changes to workspace and protective gear
Changes to interactions and gatherings

STEP 6: ASSESS OF EMPLOYEE HEALTH

Screening and/or testing
Logistics of testing

STEP 7: ADDRESS EMPLOYEE CONCERNS AND NEEDS

Communicate all post-quarantine changes and expectations
Monitor employees’ wellbeing
Assess employee morale
Prevent harassment and discrimination

STEP 8: CONSIDER & MONITOR POTENTIAL ISSUES UNDER ADA, OSHA, AND NLRA

ADA Issues
OSHA issues
NLRA issues

STEP 9: ANTICIPATE EMPLOYEE LEAVE REQUESTS

STEP 10: TRAIN SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS

STEP 11: REVIEW AND UPDATE EXISTING POLICIES

STEP 12: PLAN AHEAD

COVID-19 Resources - 05/01/2020

COVID-19 Resources

Lake Effect HR & Law, LLC
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