Kerri Beatty As anticipated, on March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. The law takes effect immediately. As we previously reported, Congress passed the law in February which allows employees who previously entered into agreements requiring all employment disputes to be arbitrated to be entitled … Read more
The CDC released new guidance suggesting that 70 percent of Americans can now stop wearing masks, and no longer need to social distance or avoid crowded indoor spaces. The recommendations no longer rely only on the number of cases in a community to determine the need for restrictions such as mask wearing. Instead, they direct … Read more
Congress recently passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, which invalidates arbitration agreements that preclude a party from filing a lawsuit in court involving sexual assault or sexual harassment, at the election of the party alleging such conduct. President Biden is expected to sign it into law soon. … Read more
Governor Kathy Hochul lifted the indoor mask mandate in New York, which required businesses to ask for proof of full vaccination or require masks indoors at all times. This became effective February 10th and reflected the continued decline of the Omicron variant. The Governor left in place a mask requirement in schools until March when … Read more
On January 25, 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced the withdrawal of its emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) that would have required private sector US employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees or require them to comply with weekly COVID-19 testing and face covering requirements. OSHA’s … Read more
As we previously reported, New York State passed the Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act”) to prevent the spread of all airborne infectious diseases in the workplace and establish workplace safety committees. The law requires employers to implement industry-specific airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans. Since September 6, 2021, the Department of Health Commissioner … Read more