Coronavirus Update 7-30-2020: Ohio needs to fix its unemployment system, π»πΌπ
The State of Ohio has temporarily frozen its Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits, as the Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Service...
Coronavirus Update 7-29-2020: SAFE TO WORK Act would offer employers a significant shield from employee COVID-19 lawsuits
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, Senate Republican introduced their $1 trillion COVID-19 economic stimulus package. Among other proposals the bill contain...
Coronavirus Update 7-28-2020: Do you know what to do when an employee tests positive?
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the Miami Marlins announced that 14 members of its organization—12 players and two coaches—have tested positive for coronavirus. ...
Coronavirus Update 7-27-2020: If your employee treats COVID-19 like a hoax
By Jon Hyman
At the always fabulous Ask a Manager , Alison Green posts the following question : One of my employees has been vocal about the coronavirus...
Coronavirus Update 7-24-2020: New music Friday … live from the Rock Hall
By Jon Hyman
In-person live music has been in short supply over the past four months. Like many, I’ve missed it very, very much. Last Sunday, however, I ...
Coronavirus Update 7-23-2020: The FFCRA implications of schools reopening
By Jon Hyman
With schools set to reopen over the next four to six weeks, your employees will be asking for time off from work if their children will be d...
Coronavirus Update 7-22-2020: Telemedicine and the FMLA
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, the Department of Labor published a three new sets of FAQs— COVID-19 and the FLSA , COVID-19 and the FMLA , and updated ...
Non-Coronavirus Update 7-21-2020: Employment law issues I missed covering during the pandemic
By Jon Hyman
Today, I thought I put COVID-19 on a virtual pause and take a look at some employment law issues I missed covering over the past couple of m...
Coronavirus Update 7-20-2020: How do you reopen schools without teachers?
By Jon Hyman
We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it, the dads want it, the kids want it. It’s time to do it. – President ...
Coronavirus Update 7-17-2020: It’s a scary world at there, and I’m not just talking about the virus
By Jon Hyman
I thought it was an innocent enough tweet. I would have lost my friggin’ mind if I was in that room and then that happened. — Jon Hyman π· ...
Coronavirus Update 7-16-2020: A letter to Ohio — we’re all in this together; let’s all start acting like it
By Jon Hyman
To my fellow Ohioans, Last evening, Governor DeWine scolded many of you for not doing your part in helping to stop the spread of coronavirus...
Coronavirus Update 7-15-2020: OSHA updates its mealy-mouthed facial covering FAQs (again)
By Jon Hyman
OSHA has, yet again, updated its Frequently Asked Questions to advise employers about the use of face masks in the workplace during the ongo...
Coronavirus Update 7-14-2020: Should employers be testing employees for COVID-19?
By Jon Hyman
Fortune magazine asks: "Why some companies are screening employees for COVID-19, while others have opted out?" This is a legitimat...
Coronavirus Update 7-13-2020: Hopelessness
By Jon Hyman
Today's post was either going to discuss mandatory temperature checks for employees or reopening schools. Instead, however, today will b...
Coronavirus Update 7-9-2020: The 6th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the working mom sacker
By Jon Hyman
Let this woman's Instagram post sink in, and then let’s talk about why it's wrong to fire a mom working from home (allegedly) becau...
Coronavirus Update 7-8-2020: A tale of two mask orders
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, Ohio announced that face coverings will be required at all times when out in public in seven surging counties—Butler, Franklin, ...
Coronavirus Update 7-7-2020: Do you know the difference between quarantine and isolation?
By Jon Hyman
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we've heard the words "quarantine" and "isolation" used a lot. While a thesaur...
Coronavirus Update 7-6-2020: Telsa fires workers for staying home after giving them permission to stay home … and after they complain about safety
By Jon Hyman
"Carlos, there is no need to feel that you are going to lose your job. If at this time you do not feel comfortable returning to work, y...
Coronavirus Update 7-2-2020: Employee claims his remote-work request got him fired, sues
By Jon Hyman
An employee suffers from high blood pressure and lives with his 81-year-old mother. He's an engineer and began working from home for his...
Coronavirus Update 7–1–2020: THIS is how you protect your employees
By Jon Hyman
Mootown Creamery is an ice cream shop in my town. Consistent with Ohio's reopening rules, it requires its employees to wear masks while...
Coronavirus Update 6–30–2020: CDC now recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public
By Jon Hyman
Your cloth face covering may protect them. Their cloth face covering may protect you. As COVID-19 cases spike nationwide, and the CDC warns ...
Coronavirus Update 6–29–2020: Judge hands McDonald’s a whopper of a rebuke for its COVID-19 response
By Jon Hyman
A month ago I reported on a novel lawsuit filed against McDonald's Corporation in which the plaintiffs sought to have the fast-food con...
Coronavirus Update 6–26–2020: New music Friday—Norah (en franΓ§ais), and a brand new Old 97’s song @suburbspod #FridayNightHootenanny
By Jon Hyman
Since early May, Norah has spent her Friday nights jamming on the Rockin' the Suburbs podcast's Friday Night Hootenanny. Each Frida...
Coronavirus Update 6–25–2020: Are employees taking paid leave under the FFCRA? — the results
By Jon Hyman
The results are in from my survey on the prevalence of employee leave under the FFCRA. Of those employers that are covered by the FFCRA: 86 ...
Coronavirus Update 6–24–2020: Are employees taking paid leave under the FFCRA?
By Jon Hyman
According to a recent poll conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families , less than one in five employees have either take...
Coronavirus Update 6–23–2020: Must you accommodate an employee with a high-risk family member?
By Jon Hyman
A bit of personal news: I have requested the opportunity to work from home for the fall semester because of my daughter’s heart condition. I...
Coronavirus Update 6–22–2020: Ohio ends unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to work (with some key exceptions)
By Jon Hyman
The state of Ohio will begin denying unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to work because of coronavirus. Governor DeWine issued a...
Coronavirus Update 6–19–2020: How to communicate when an employee tests positive
By Jon Hyman
Positive COVID-19 tests are sadly the reality of 2020, and likely at least part of 2021. Nationally, 2.23 million of us have tested positive...
Coronavirus Update 6–18–2020: Errata—employers cannot require antibody tests of employees, says EEOC
By Jon Hyman
Two months ago I suggested that the EEOC would conclude that employers could require COVID-19 antibody tests as a condition of employment....
Does Title VII protect employees whose spouses are pregnant?
By Jon Hyman
A male Disney employee has filed suit against his former employer, claiming that Disney unlawfully discriminated against him because of his...
Everything you need to know about Bostock v. Clayton County—the #SCOTUS LGBTQ discrimination decision—in five quotes
By Jon Hyman
June is Pride Month. If you thought the month's biggest LGBTQ news was Nickelodeon tweeting that SpongeBob was part of the LGBTQ+ commun...
BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Supreme Court holds that Title VII protects LGBTQ employees π³️π
By Jon Hyman
In a landmark ruling issued this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination also proh...
Coronavirus Update 6–15–2020: COVID-19 is not an excuse for age discrimination
By Jon Hyman
Consider these headlines: Older Workers Grapple With Risk of Getting Covid-19 on the Job Older Workers Returning to Office Fear Both Virus a...
Coronavirus Update 6–12–2020: sanctimony (and masks) #MaskingForAFriend
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, I asked a simple question: Do you voluntarily wear a mask or other facial covering when out in public? Thank you to the hundreds ...
Coronavirus Update 6–11–2020: OSHA issues guidance on cloth face coverings at work
By Jon Hyman
I continue to struggle with comprehending how masks and facial coverings became one of the key coronavirus issues that's divided our na...
Coronavirus Update 6–10–2020: President Trump signs Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, extending PPP loan forgiveness
By Jon Hyman
The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 , which President Trump signed into law on June 5, makes several key business-friend...
Coronavirus Update 6–9–2020: Northeast Ohio restaurants sue to block reopening guidelines
By Jon Hyman
What is a state's ability to regulate businesses during a pandemic? This question is one that will be answered in a lawsuit filed yester...
Coronavirus Update 6–8–2020: “I was terminated for refusing to wear a ‘Trump 2020’ face mask."
By Jon Hyman
Ohio requires that all employees wear face masks or other face coverings as a condition to any business reopening that ( subject to a few li...
Coronavirus Update 6–5–2020: Cleveland is not the “butthole of the world"
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, Frank Jackson, Cleveland's four-term mayor, said that "Cleveland's perceived to be the butthole of the world...
Coronavirus Update 6–4–2020: Can you force employees who participate in George Floyd protests to quarantine without pay?
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday I discussed the legalities of placing on an unpaid leave of absence employees who engaging in leisure mass gatherings outside of ...
Coronavirus Update 6–3–2020: Do “Lake of the Ozarks” employees sent home from work qualify for paid sick leave under the FFCRA?
By Jon Hyman
Last week I discussed how to handle employees who are not social distancing outside of work. My thoughts were spurred by videos of employee...
Coronavirus Update 6–2–2020: Justice Department indicts employee for COVID-19 workplace fraud
By Jon Hyman
In mid-April the FBI warned employers to be on the lookout for fake COVID-19 diagnoses, doctors' notes, and other coronavirus-related d...
I am at a loss for words…
By Jon Hyman
I cannot ignore the appalling tragedies we experienced over the past week, first through the murder of George Floyd, and then through the ri...
Coronavirus Update 5-29-2020: Friday olio — an A+ set of reopening guidelines, a webinar, and a playlist
By Jon Hyman
A few shares for your Friday. First, on Wednesday the CDC published sweeping recommendations for reopening office buildings . According to ...
Coronavirus Update 5-28-2020: Is your business ready for the COVID-19 golden age of union organizing?
By Jon Hyman
Among the many lessons we will learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is its demonstration of the importance of union membership for essential wor...
Coronavirus Update 5-27-2020: Is McDonald’s really a public nuisance?
By Jon Hyman
As I've written in the past , it's difficult bordering on impossible for an employee to sue their employer based on an alleged COVID...
Coronavirus Update 5-26-2020: When an employee isn’t social distancing outside of work
By Jon Hyman
How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Mine was way more mundane than years past. I watched my nephew receive his high school diploma ...
Coronavirus Update 5-22-2020: We really don’t want our employees being “Tisons"
By Jon Hyman
Social media is congratulating Tison, a Costco employee who turned away an angry customer who refused to wear a mask, a condition required b...
Coronavirus Update 5-21-2020: Ohio judge grants Pyrrhic victory to gyms closed by Stay at Home Order
By Jon Hyman
The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law sued the State of Ohio on behalf of 35 gyms forced to close because of Ohio's Stay of Home Order...
Coronavirus Update 5-20-2020: Governor DeWine’s “Ohioans Protecting Ohioans” advisory is a colossal miscalculation
By Jon Hyman
This past weekend offered a perfect coronavirus storm in Ohio. The weather on Saturday was postcard-perfect, and restaurant and bar patios w...
Coronavirus Update 5-19-2020: Lawsuit highlights risk of businesses not reopening safely and correctly
By Jon Hyman
An employee has sued a Utah protein bar company after she contracted COVID-19. She claims that she became ill because her employer ignored h...
Coronavirus Update 5-18-2020: House proposes significant expansions to FFCRA paid leave
By Jon Hyman
Late Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, H.R.6800 . Among...
Coronavirus Update 5-15-2020: One that got away … and one that didn’t
By Jon Hyman
There's no such thing as bad publicity. Or at least that's how the saying goes. Monday evening I received the following Twitter D...
Coronavirus Update 5-14-2020: Workers’ Comp waivers aren’t just a bad idea, they are also almost certainly illegal
By Jon Hyman
Consider this headline from the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Restaurant, fearing coronavirus lawsuit, creates liability waiver . The article g...
Coronavirus Update 5-13-2020: Workplace virus screening tools aren’t perfect, but they are at least part of a solution
By Jon Hyman
How do you protect your employees during a pandemic? This is the question this New York Times article asks. As states reopen and businesses...
Coronavirus Update 5-12-2020: You have every right to be a π€π°π·πͺπ₯πͺπ°π΅, and we have every right to fire you for it
By Jon Hyman
" Covidiot : A person who acts like an irresponsible idiot during the Covid-19 pandemic, ignoring common sense, decency, science, and p...
Coronavirus Update 5-11-2020: The 6th(!) set of FAQs from the DOL on the FFCRA
By Jon Hyman
Consider the following scenario. An employee has been working from home productively and without issue since the state Shelter in Place...
Coronavirus Update 5-8-2020: Can you legally refuse to return to work to someone at “high risk” for COVID-19 complications?
By Jon Hyman
As you start recalling employees to your physical workplace from remote work-from-home arrangements or furlough, you are concerned about a...
Coronavirus Update 5-7-2020: Things I miss π’
By Jon Hyman
These are the top 10 things I miss (in no particular order): 1/ Seeing family and friends in person. (happy birthday Mom!) 2/ Hugs and...
Coronavirus Update 5-6-2020: How do parents return to work without available childcare?
By Jon Hyman
Childcare is the issue that has gotten the least attention in discussions about employees returning to work. As states begin to slowly reo...
Coronavirus Update 5-5-2020: Ohio encouraging employers to report AWOL employees to ODJFS
By Jon Hyman
Last week I asked how employers could encourage employees to return to work when unemployment benefits pay them more than their jobs. One...
Coronavirus Update 5-4-2020: Handling employee mental-health issues in a world and workplace changed by coronavirus
By Jon Hyman
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is as good a time as any to bring up an issue that has been weighing heavily on my mind — the ...
Coronavirus Update 5-1-2020: Some Friday links to share
By Jon Hyman
Just a couple of links to wrap up another looooong week in the world of COVID-19. First, the video from Tuesday’s Zoominar .