Tagged: ADA

Employment

OSHA Releases Updated Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace

On August 13, 2021, the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) released updated guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace to reflect changes in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) guidance for fully vaccinated individuals in response to the spread of the Delta variant.  The guidance serves to update OSHA’s June 10, 2021 COVID-19 workplace safety rule, but is advisory in nature and does not create any legal obligations for employers.  OSHA emphasized that vaccination is “the most effective way” to protect workers from the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace, but now also recommends that all workers wear masks in public indoor settings...

Employment

New EEOC Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Workplace

On May 28, 2021, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released new guidance regarding COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace.  The new guidance clarifies some significant issues, including whether employers may require U.S. employees to be vaccinated (at least as a matter of U.S. federal law) and the types of incentives they may provide to vaccinated employees.  Employers must also comply with the significant number of new state laws that address these same issues, and in many cases, contradict the EEOC’s positions. I.                   Mandatory Vaccinations The EEOC confirmed that employers may require all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, but with important caveats.  The guidance reiterates the requirement...

Employment

The COVID-19 Vaccine – Next Steps for Canadian Employers with U.S. Operations

The United States is currently experiencing the largest surge in COVID-19 cases since the global health emergency began.  In the past several weeks, the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) granted emergency-use authorization to the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, prompting employers to ask whether they may require employees to be vaccinated. It is imperative that Canadian employers understand their rights and responsibilities with regard to the vaccination of U.S.-based employees. A.  Can Employers Require Employees to Receive the Vaccination? Generally speaking, employers may disallow employees from entering the workplace if they have not been vaccinated, though employers must accommodate employees with disabilities or religious objections.  On December 16, 2020, the Equal...

Employment / Litigation

The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Brief Primer on the ADA

Like Canada, the United States has federal legislation protecting employees with disabilities. While Canada has the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act, the United States has the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). While both Canadian and U.S. laws protect disabled employees from discrimination, the ADA has very specific procedures and requirements for accommodating employees with disabilities that even sophisticated U.S. employers frequently get wrong. Below is a discussion of several key concepts under the ADA that employers in the United States should know about. An employer has a duty to provide an employee with a “disability” with “reasonable accommodations” that will allow the employee to perform the “essential...