The latest video in Baker McKenzie’s “The Employer Rapport – Quick chats for the US workplace” looks at guidelines for accommodating sincerely held religious beliefs and disabilities for employers mandating vaccinations.
Shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders have been prevalent throughout the United States since March 2020 as state and local governments have sought to protect their citizens from the spread of the COVID-19 virus while at the same time reopen their economies in accordance with phased reopening plans. Illinois, Iowa and New Mexico extended their state-wide orders and/or the duration of the current phase of their reopening plans. Washington amended its state-wide mask mandate to require facial coverings for large outdoor events with 500 or more individual, regardless of vaccination status.
Baker McKenzie has a team in place that has been advising clients in real-time on critical issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic since the first shelter-in-place/stay-at-home orders were enacted. The latest update on 27 August 2021 reflects these developments:
• The following jurisdictions extended their state-wide orders and/or the duration of the current phase of their reopening plans: Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, and New Mexico.
• The following jurisdictions imposed new face-covering requirements: Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia.
We are advising employers on the permissibility of vaccine mandates in particular jurisdictions, the ability to require proof of vaccination (including data privacy considerations), how to treat employees who refuse vaccines, workplace health and safety requirements, and much more.
US employers want employees to return to the brick and mortar workplace but with the COVID-19 Delta variant rampaging across the US and elsewhere, many employers are requiring employees to be vaccinated before they return – and they are requiring proof of vaccination. So, what can employers do to track the vaccination status of their employees?
In this Quick Chat video, our Labor and Employment and Data Privacy lawyers discuss risks and best practices for US employers on tracking proof of employee vaccinations, and take a look at data privacy issues that can arise.
The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has decided to sing the same song as its sister agency. On 13 August 2021, OSHA updated its guidance for American workplaces, auto-tuning its recommendations for fully vaccinated employees to match recent guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Can private employers mandate vaccination as a condition of returning to the workplace? The recent spike in the COVID-19 Delta variant has caused the re-closure of worksites or changes to workplace safety protocols, leading to legal developments that provide more clarity to this issue. In this Quick Chat video, Baker McKenzie Labor and Employment lawyers break down whether and how private employers can mandate vaccination.
The emergence and subsequent spread of the Delta variant has led several countries, most notably the United States, into adopting more stringent health and safety protocols. On 29 July, President Biden declared that the US government would be imposing vaccination requirements in certain cases and offering additional incentives for its citizens to be vaccinated.
We are pleased to provide this tracker, which identifies the relevant state-wide shelter-in-place orders and their related expiration dates, as well as the applicable state-wide reopening plans, in each of the 50 United States plus Washington, D.C. This week saw a dozen states extend their state-wide orders and/or the duration of the current phase of their reopening plans, five states imposed new mask mandates, and only two eased restrictions.