Today marks the one-year anniversary of the identification of the first COVID-19 case in the United States. On January 20, 2020, the State of Washington and the CDC confirmed that someone in Washington State had contracted the virus. Since then, 24,809,840 additional Americans have contracted Covid, and 411,520 have died from it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
What employers can expect from Biden’s presidency: A temporary emergency OSHA standard for COVID-19
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the identification of the first COVID-19 case in the United States. On January 20, 2020, the State of Washington and the CDC confirmed that someone in Washington State had contracted the virus. Since then, 24,809,840 additional Americans have contracted Covid, and 411,520 have died from it.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Biden calls for extension and expansion of FFCRA
As you should hopefully be aware, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the federal law that provided paid leave to employees for Covid-related absences, expired on December 31, 2020, with an option for employers to voluntarily expand leave through March 31, 2021. The problem, however, is that while this leave has expired or will soon expire, COVID-19 is not expiring any time soon.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 18, 2021
What employers can expect from Biden’s presidency: A $15 minimum wage
This week I'll be examining what employers can expect from Joe Biden's presidency. Today, a $15 minimum wage.
Late last week President-elect Biden released his America Rescue Plan, a comprehensive legislative package to provide relief to those struggling because of COVID-19. Among its proposals was a $15 minimum wage.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 15, 2021
The 2nd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the stillbirthing leave spurner
When I close out this contest at the end of each year I ask myself, "Jon, will you be able to find sufficiently awful nominees for the next year?" Each year answers this question with a resounding yes. 2021 is no exception.
I bring you the District of Columbia Public Schools, which denied maternity leave to a teacher after she suffered the tragedy of delivering a stillborn baby.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 14, 2021
H.B. 352 finally fixes Ohio’s broken employment discrimination statute for employers
For lack of more artful description, Ohio's employment discrimination law was a mess. It exposed employers to claims for up to six years (the longest such statute of limitations in the country), contained no less than three different ways for employees to file age discrimination claims (each with different remedies and filing deadlines), rendered managers and supervisors personally liable for discrimination, and omitted any filing prerequisites with the state civil rights agency.
The start of 2021, however, provides Ohio businesses much-needed reform of this previously broken law. Earlier this week, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 352 [pdf].
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Github fires employee for using the n-word … Nazi
Software company GitHub is taking a lot of heat for firing a Jewish employee for referring to the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6 as "Nazis." The Verge has the details:
GitHub reportedly fired a Jewish employee after he posted a message in Slack that said "stay safe homies, Nazis are about" the day of the attack on the US Capitol….
The message sparked controversy inside the company, with one colleague criticizing him for using divisive language. GitHub's HR team chastised the employee for using the word "Nazi" in a company Slack channel. Two days later, GitHub allegedly fired him, citing vague patterns of behavior.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Coronavirus Update 1-12-2021: 8 of the 10 deadliest days in US history are because of Covid
While we've all been mentally overcome by the rebellion that unfolded at the Capitol and the civil war that I fear it started, Covid-19 continues to rage around the country. Hundreds of thousands are falling ill each day, hospitals are stretched to capacity, and thousands are dying daily. The circle of people with Covid is closing in personally, and the number of calls I am receiving from clients with the question, "We've had an employee test positive; what do we do," has increased exponentially. All the while, the rollout of the vaccine, which was supposed to save us from this pandemic, has been too slow and uneven.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 11, 2021
“Beware systemic discrimination,” says EEOC to employers
Systemic discrimination has multiple meanings, according to the EEOC:
- A "pattern or practice, policy, and/or class cases where the discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, profession, company, or geographic location."
- "Bias that is built into systems, originating in the way work is organized," referring to "structures that shape the work environment or employment prospects differently for different types of workers."
- "Patterns of behavior that develop within organizations that disadvantage certain employees and become harmful to productivity."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, January 8, 2021
When you discover that you employ a seditious rebel #TraitorsGettingFired
Elizabeth wasn’t ready for the revolution to be televised😂 pic.twitter.com/LibeNAuE6h
— xy467chr (@xy467chr) January 6, 2021
Why is Jake Angeli walking free? If he can be named in this article, and he was part of the insurrectionist movement yesterday, he committed a crime by invading the Capitol and he should be arrested. https://t.co/5hUbek57nc
— Dr. HawaiiDelilah™ (@HawaiiDelilah) January 7, 2021
This is Paul Davis. Paul is a lawyer. He’s also associate general counsel & director of human resources at Goosehead Insurance. Today he stormed the capitol building in an attempt to stage a coup against the US government and documented it (!) on Instagram. @followgoosehead pic.twitter.com/eTkoK92ujL
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) January 7, 2021
NEW: A Maryland company has terminated one of its employees after he was apparently captured in a picture during the mob riot in the Capitol yesterday. @wbaltv11 pic.twitter.com/flxRhdmP3P
— Tre Ward (@TreWardWBAL) January 7, 2021
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 7, 2021
I’m pretty far from okay
I’m not okay with what happened yesterday. I’m angry, I’m sad, and I’m scared for the future of our country and our democracy.
If you don’t reject what happened without reservation or qualification, please unfollow me.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 6, 2021
I’m not in Kansas anymore … or ever (an unemployment fraud story)
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Tuesday, January 5, 2021
The 1st nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021" is … the bogus bonus payor
We all felt for Clark Griswold when, instead of his expected year-end bonus, he received a one-year membership to the Jelly of the Month Club (the gift that keeps on giving the whole year).
What's the cruelest prank you can make on employees who are struggling during a pandemic when millions of people have lost their jobs or lives? GoDaddy … tried to find out when it sent employees a fake email informing them they'd receive a $650 holiday bonus. …
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 4, 2021
Coronavirus Update 1-4-2021: DOL approves telemedicine visits to establish a serious health condition under the FMLA
With the COVID-19 pandemic closing health-care-provider offices or severely limiting patient access, many have turned to telehealth to remotely obtain healthcare from the safety of their homes. The question arose, however, whether these remote visits would qualify as "treatment" under the FMLA's qualifying definition of a "serious health condition," which under the FMLA's regulations requires an "in-person visit to a health care provider," and does not include "a phone call, letter, email, or text message."
While you were celebrating your December holidays, the Department of Labor issued a Field Assistance Bulletin [pdf] addressing this issue.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020
’Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas
In what has become an annual tradition for my final post of the year, I bring you the holiday classic, ’Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas.
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the office
Not a creature was stirring … well, just one of the bosses;
The bonuses were paid by the company with care,
In hopes that no ungrateful employees would swear.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Coronavirus Update 12-22-2020: Congress approves an FFCRA extension (sort of)
Late yesterday, Congress approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, better known as its $900 billion COVID-19 rescue stimulus. President Trump is expected to sign it into law.
Buried within the bill's 5593 pages (on pages 2033 - 2037) is an extension of tax credits for paid sick and family leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which otherwise would have expired on December 31.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Worst Employer(s) of 2020: The Winners
It brings me tremendous joy to announce the Worst Employer(s) of 2020.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, December 21, 2020
Coronavirus Update 12-21-2020: Ensuring compliance with your Covid safety protocols shouldn’t be a mission impossible
British newspaper The Sun published leaked audio capturing Tom Cruise angrily addressing two crew members who he believed had breached Covid-19 protocols while filming "Mission Impossible 7."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, December 18, 2020
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear
In his semi-eponymous movie, Buddy the Elf famously explained, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."
Today, I'm choosing to use my valuable internet space to spread some Christmas cheer of my own. Please don't worry, it's not me singing, which would spread whatever the opposite of cheer is. Instead, it's my resident songstress, Norah Marie, who used her iPhone to self-record and mix this lovely (IMHO) cover of "Jingle Bell Rock."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, December 17, 2020
Coronavirus Update 12-17-2020, part 2: The COVID-19 vaccine and race discrimination
One issue the EEOC omitted from its technical guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine is the issue of race discrimination.
If you are going to adopt a mandatory vaccination policy for your workplace (which the EEOC says you can do, subject to reasonable accommodation exceptions under the ADA for medical issues and Title VII for sincerely held religious beliefs or observances), then you must account for the possibility of that policy having a disparate impact based on race. Otherwise, you might be setting yourself up for a potential race discrimination lawsuit.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Coronavirus Update 12-17-2020: EEOC releases guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine
Yesterday, the EEOC published its guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine under the ADA and GINA, in the form of nine Q & As. You can read them in their totality here.
The TL;DR: yes, you can force employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment (although the should is an entirely different issue), subject to limits on reasonable accommodations for employees' disabilities and sincerely held religious practices or beliefs and subject to limits on pre-vaccination medical questions.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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