Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Why would a company wait a year to implement an anti-harassment program?


McDonald's has lots of secrets. What's in its sauce? What part of the chicken do the McNuggets come from? How come every time I crave a cone the soft-serve machine is out of order? Why do their soft drinks taste better than anyone else's?

Something that's not a secret, however, is that McDonald's has a serious sexual harassment problem.

Monday, April 26, 2021

Coronavirus Update 4-26-2021: Another reason not to mandate the Covid vaccine for employees


I've not hidden my belief that employers should not be mandating that their employees receive the Covid vaccine as a condition of employment. Now, OSHA offers yet another reason why employers should recommend, but not mandate, the vaccine.

Per OSHA, if the vaccine is mandatory, then an employer must record an employee's adverse reaction or side effects on its OSHA log.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Coronavirus Update 4-22-2021: The SBA has one pandemic job, and it failed @nivassoc #saveourstages


On April 8, the Small Business Association opened its Covid relief program for concert halls and other performing arts venues. Or at least it was supposed to.

This $16 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program—part of the $900 billion rescue package Congress approved nearly four months ago—is supposed to offer grants equal to 45% of a venue's gross earned revenue up to $10 million per business. The SBA had to immediately close its SVOG portal when crashed from the volume of applications. As of last Friday, the SBA said that it was still working to test the portal's functionality and that it was hoping to reopen it by the end of this week.

This failure is completely and utterly unacceptable. 

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Coronavirus Update 4-21-2021, part 2: Does President Biden read my blog?


I've previously urged employers to pay employees for time off related to getting the Covid vaccine and for any time related to adverse reactions to the vaccine thereafter (here and here).

Today, President Biden made the exact same argument in urging Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

CNN quotes President Biden's remarks from earlier today:
As we move into the vaccination campaign focused on working-age adults, one concern I've heard from so many Americans is that they can't afford to take the time off to get vaccinated or lose a day's work because they are feeling slightly under the weather after their shot. I'm calling on every employer, large and small, in every state to give employees the time off they need -- with pay -- to get vaccinated, and any time they need -- with pay -- to recover if they're feeling under the weather after the shot. No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated.
I'm not so arrogant as to think that President Biden reads my blog, but a guy can dream, right?

Coronavirus Update 4-21-2021: Most Americans that haven’t yet gotten the Covid vaccine don’t plan to … and that’s a huge problem


According to a recent Axios-Ipsos poll, vaccination efforts may have plateaued, and most people who've not yet been vaccinated don't plan to get vaccinated.

  • 44 percent report not yet receiving any dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
  • 66 percent of those unvaccinated say that they are either "not likely at all" or "not very likely" to get vaccinated.
  • Only 14 percent of those unvaccinated say they are likely to get the vaccine.
These numbers present a huge problem.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

We learn more from our failures than our successes


A couple of months ago I was approached by the That One Case podcast to record an episode. This show asks lawyers to share the story of one case that has stood out over their careers. As they pitched it, that case could be a big win that defined my career, a turning point that took my work down an unexpected path, or simply the case of which I am most proud.

Monday, April 19, 2021

How to identify and handle an employee at risk for workplace violence


It's been four days since Brandon Hole returned to the Indianapolis FedEx facility at which previously worked and killed eight people. 

I've previously written about how to spot an employee at risk for workplace violence. And while I'm not sure FedEx could have done anything to prevent what happened here, this tragedy nevertheless is a great reminder of what employers need to do when they suspect an employee presents a risk of violence.