Citing a continued decline in the rate of hospitalizations throughout the state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a pair of executive orders on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, aimed at easing restrictions on businesses and hospitals throughout the state. Most notably, most businesses throughout the state will be allowed to operate at 75 percent capacity beginning Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Executive Order GA-30’s Expanded Occupancy Levels Since June 28, 2020, Texas businesses have been allowed to…

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed HB 606 into law on Monday, Sept. 16, 2020. Known as the “Good Samaritan Expansion Bill,” the law protects employers, both private and public, from civil action lawsuits for damages stemming from COVID-19 exposure, except in reckless or wanton exposure cases. In relevant part, the new law reads: SECTION 2. (A) No civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property shall be brought against any…

Introduction The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was enacted just under six months ago in the wake of closings prompted by the then new coronavirus pandemic. As most employers know, the FFCRA created leave rights for many employees of employers with fewer than 500 employees for absences caused by the virus and its aftermath. The FFCRA was itself a large and complicated bill, assembled in a remarkably short period of time, that borrowed aspects…

Last week, California enacted a law, Assembly Bill (AB) 1867, providing supplemental COVID-19-related sick leave to food-sector workers and workers employed by a company with 500 or more employees nationwide. The law requires employers of such employees to provide sick leave – in addition to any other leave the employee may be entitled to – for the following three situations: The worker is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order…

With companies continuing to reopen for in-person operations amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many employers are left wondering if they could face increased liability related to employees contracting COVID-19 in the workplace. Liability related to contracting a virus in the workplace could take the form of a negligence action or a claim for workers’ compensation. Typically, under state workers’ compensation laws, routine transmissible viruses such as the flu or common cold do not provide employees…