As part of Mexico’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government of Mexico has instituted a weekly traffic-light monitoring system with four criteria that each state must meet before proceeding to the next phase of the country’s reopening plan. Below is a map for the week of July 20, 2020, indicating the COVID-19 risk level in Mexico’s 32 states.
In March 2020, everyone thought we just need to occupy our children at home for a few weeks, maybe through spring break, and we would be fine. Then it was “just make it to summer.” Now summer is winding down and many kids are not going back to school full-time (at least not in person) any time soon. This creates tremendous challenges for families as well as employers.
On July 30, 2020, Wisconsin joined 31 other states—including Alabama, California, and Pennsylvania—with a statewide face covering order. Governor Tony Evers issued Emergency Order #1, requiring all individuals in Wisconsin over the age of five and medically able to do so to don cloth face coverings (not including face shields or mesh coverings) any time they are “indoors or in an enclosed space, other than a private residence,” and in the presence of others outside their households.
On July 22, 2020, Health Officer Tomás J. Aragón of the City and County of San Francisco issued Public Health Emergency Order No. C19-12c, entitled, “Order of the Health Officer of the City and County of San Francisco Generally Requiring Members of the Public and Workers to Wear Face Coverings.”
Conducting business in the U.S. Virgin Islands poses unique challenges not often encountered in the states, but also unique opportunities. This 20-part series offers tips for doing business in the U.S. Virgin Islands, covering a broad array of topics affecting employers. Part nine of this series addresses the laws relevant to accommodating disabled or high-risk employees in the workplace.
On July 24, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) issued updated guidance for international students pursing education programs in the United States. The follow-up guidance states that active students in F-1 and M-1 status, as well as schools certified by SEVP, should abide by SEVP guidance originally issued in March 2020, enabling schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards recently signed into law Act 336 of the 2020 Regular Session, which was filed in the Louisiana State Legislature as House Bill 826. The new act limits the liability to which Louisiana businesses and employers could be exposed due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency. Specifically, the law creates two statutes—La. Rev. Stat. § 9:2800.25 and La. Rev. Stat. § 29:773—that limit the potential liability of businesses and employers operating in Louisiana for COVID-19 contractions and related injuries.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has withdrawn from its website—without public explanation—a controversial interpretation of its requirement to report in-patient hospitalizations of employees who contracted work-related cases of COVID-19.
As part of Mexico’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government of Mexico has instituted a weekly traffic-light monitoring system with four criteria that each state must meet before proceeding to the next phase of the country’s reopening plan. Below is a map for the week of July 20, 2020, indicating the COVID-19 risk level in Mexico’s 32 states.
Conducting business in the U.S. Virgin Islands poses unique challenges not often encountered in the states, but also unique opportunities. This 20-part series offers tips for doing business in the U.S. Virgin Islands, covering a broad array of topics affecting employers. Part eight of this series addresses COVID-19 concerns that may arise when employees return to work from vacation.
On July 24, 2020, the State of California released its “COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening.” According to the playbook, its purpose is to help employers “plan and prepare for reopening their business[es] and to support a safe, clean environment for workers and customers.” The Employer Playbook’s table of contents lists four major areas that the playbook addresses: (1) steps employers can take to open safely; (2) what to do if a COVID-19 case occurs in the workplace; (3) enforcement and compliance; and (4) worker education. In addition, the playbook includes three appendixes consisting of employer and worker resources, enforcement and compliance contacts, and case studies illustrating the playbook’s principles.
The State of California and many California counties mandate the use of face coverings in the workplace and elsewhere. California considers the issue important enough to include a section entitled “Guidance for Employers and Workers in Enforcing Mask Requirements” in its “COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening,” newly released on July 24, 2020.
On July 1, 2020, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine signed an order expanding face covering–wearing requirements in Pennsylvania. Under the order, face coverings must now be worn almost any time an individual leaves home, including in most outdoor settings.
On July 15, 2020, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board approved an Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 to be enforced by the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program (VOSH). Virginia is the first state to adopt a specific standard intended to protect workers and “to control, prevent, and mitigate the spread of [COVID-19]” in the workplace.
On July 15, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a new interpretation of the hospitalization reporting requirement of 29 C.F.R. § 1904.39(b)(6), one that states that employers “must report the hospitalization within 24 hours of knowing both that the employee has been hospitalized and that the reason for hospitalization was COVID-19.”
An increase in the number of scams involving false unemployment benefits claims are emerging in Nevada and across the country. Third parties are filing claims for unemployment insurance benefits using the names and personal information of employees who have not lost their jobs. They are often using accurate personal information, including Social Security numbers.
On July 21, 2020, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7III, which made mandatory a previous advisory self-quarantine recommendation for individuals—including employees—traveling from states with high COVID-19 infection rates. While an exemption for essential travelers still applies, there were a number of changes
On July 17, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its Discontinuation of Isolation for Persons with COVID-19 Not in Healthcare Settings interim guidance. This is the guidance upon which employers rely in determining when employees are safe to return to work after being sick with or testing positive for COVID-19.
While the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) postponed the 2019 EEO-1 filing deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), which is in charge of the VETS-4212 filings, has taken no such action—which means that government contractors may want to begin preparing promptly for the September 30, 2020, filing deadline.
As employees return to work, some employers are asking if there could be another tool to detect COVID-19 in the workplace: detection dogs. Traditionally, the military has used detection dogs to find bombs, and law enforcement has used them to sniff out narcotics, guns, electronics, or other contraband. More recently, scientists and researchers have used detection dogs to identify medical conditions.
Philadelphia recently enacted a new city ordinance protecting whistleblowers who report unsafe workplace conditions related to COVID-19.
As part of its response to COVID-19, the government of Mexico recently introduced a traffic-light monitoring system that classifies states with the help of four criteria that they must meet before proceeding to the next phase of Mexico’s reopening plan. Below is the map indicating the COVID-19 risk level in Mexico’s 32 states for the week of July 20, 2020.
In addition to the potential uses of contact-tracing apps, discussed recently in episode 1 of the Global Solutions series, most employers now conduct some form of employee screening or monitoring to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace and protect staff.
On July 7, 2020, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued COVID-19 control and prevention guidance for oil and gas industry workers and employers. The guidance supplements OSHA’s interim guidance for the general workforce.
On July 8, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance for employers on reporting qualifying wages paid to employees under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). Both laws are part of the “phase one” coronavirus legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), passed on March 18, 2020.
On July 15, 2020, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued an amended “Safer at Home” order, adding a facial covering requirement. This facial covering order, which goes into effect on July 16, 2020, at 5:00 p.m., requires (1) facial coverings for individuals; (2) protections for employees; and (3) protections for customers.
On May 6, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom of California issued Executive Order (EO) N-62-20, creating a temporary rebuttable presumption that employees working outside of their homes who test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, may receive workers’ compensation benefits. In doing so, the governor simplified the process for sick employees to seek certain wage replacement benefits, and therefore sought to encourage ill employees to stay home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
On July 14, 2020, the U.S. Department of State announced that U.S. consulates and embassies around the world have begun a phased resumption of routine visa services. The Department of State did not provide a specific timeline for the resumption of routine visa services, stating instead that the schedule will depend on local conditions at each consular post.
All of the recent changes to the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules of Section 401(a)(9) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, except for provisions related to the handling of tax-free rollovers, may be applied to Puerto Rico participants in dual-qualified plans (i.e., U.S.-qualified retirement plans that cover both U.S. and Puerto Rico employees) exactly as they are applied to U.S. participants. Puerto Rico participants are, therefore, eligible for the recently extended required beginning date and may waive taking RMDs for 2020.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Mexico has instituted a weekly traffic-light monitoring system with four criteria that states must meet before proceeding to the next phase of the country’s reopening plan. Below is a map for the week of July 13, 2020, indicating the COVID-19 risk level in Mexico’s 32 states.
