It depends, as per usual in the employment space. The latest mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last week that fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks or social distance indoors, with some exceptions. Business leaders, eager to get the workforce back at work, rejoiced. But not so fast! Image by MaximeUtopix from Pixabay The CDC caveated this exciting news with the qualifier that masks must remain where…

Quite often, retaliation claims bite employers in the backside rather than employees’ underlying claims for sexual or race-based harassment and other forms of discrimination. That’s what I was thinking as I read about a complaint filed last month against the Hillsboro government and chiefs at the Hillsboro Fire & Rescue Department. Three current employees allege that two department officials discriminated against them based on sex, race, age and disability, created a hostile work environment, and…

Reading “They Want You Back In the Office, How to coax corporate America to return to work?” on Sunday, I thought to myself “oh good, this will address incentives and COVID-19 vaccines, the provision of paid sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and, of course, ideas on flexibility to coax back the enormous, unprecedented number of women who left the workforce during the pandemic. That is not what I read in…

If so, President Biden rewards you for it! The White House just announced a paid leave tax credit to employers that provide full pay for any employee that takes time to get a COVID-19 vaccine or recover from the side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine. The American Rescue Plan is funding this tax credit for up to $511/day per vaccinated employee. Before you get too excited, there is a caveat: this tax credit is only…

As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available to more people and states ease gathering restrictions, employees are steadily, if slowly, returning to the office. As life returns to a semblance of normal, I wonder if employers will see an increase in requests from employees to bring their emotional support animals (“ESAs”) to work. Indeed, mental health conditions continue to soar across the country, with many employees cooped up at home with only their…

Yeah, I know, let’s talk about the adorable animals your employees want to bring in to work. That’s tomorrow, but first, a word about COBRA under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). As we have parsed through new paid sick and medical leave language under this new law, on April 7, 2021, the U.S. Department Of Labor (DOL) dropped some helpful Q&A guidance about ARPA’s effect on COBRA. You know, COBRA, the…

If you thought sexual harassment abated during COVID-19, think again. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) continues to follow its strategic plan and filed suit this week against one Virginia-based company that owns several IHOP franchises for a manager’s alleged sexual harassment of female employees. Particularly notable, several of the female employees are teenagers. Specifically, the EEOC alleged: The manager asked “teen workers to show their breasts to him”; The manager exposed himself to a…