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One question that employers have been asking since the onset of the pandemic is whether they could be sued by employees who get sick as a result of being exposed to an infected coworker.
Managing the Modern Workplace
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
We have discussed how employers are obligated to record COVID-19 cases that they have determined are work-related and are confirmed COVID-19 cases, but what happens when an employee who has contracted COVID-19 has to go to a hospital or dies?
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
As employers re-open workplaces, the use of rapid COVID-19 testing has proliferated. But if an employer learns of a positive result, is it required to report that result on its workplace injury logs?
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
California Governor Gavin Newson recently signed two new laws related to COVID-19, including a workers’ compensation law governing workplace “outbreaks” of COVID-19, and an exposure notice law that is triggered whenever employers discover that a potentially infectious individual has entered the workplace.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
Virginia, as one of 22 states with a federally approved Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) state plan (a workplace safety and health program operated by the individual state which is approved and monitored by OSHA for effectiveness), has taken the first step in a possible new state response trend by adopting a new emergency workplace safety standard that goes into effect today.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
On July 8, 2020, OSHA issued guidance specific to the oil and gas industry for mitigating occupational exposure risks to COVID-19.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
Suppose a union asks their bargaining unit’s employer for a list of names of all employees who have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19: Must the employer provide the requested medical information?
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
Typically, an employees’ exclusive remedy for work-related injuries is through their state’s workers’ compensation system. As an example, suppose an employee suffers a work-related injury as a result of her employer’s negligence.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
In its COVID-19 Q&A guidance, the EEOC has concluded that, while an employer may require reliable virus testing as part of its workplace screening procedures, COVID-19 antibody tests are not similarly permissible, at least for the time being.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
We have all seen the data: Eighty percent of the people who have died of COVID-19 in the United States have been 65 or older.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
Some states have issued orders requiring employers to provide cloth face coverings to employees as a condition for reopening.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace
As employers ask employees who have been furloughed or who have been teleworking to return to the office, they may encounter some resistance from some workers who don’t want to come back.
Coronavirus: Preparation & Response
Managing the Modern Workplace