Coronavirus Update 2-22-2021: Get ready for the glut of Covid whistleblower tag-along claims

The headline reads, "Ex-Manager Sues Ample Hills in Lawsuit Alleging Harassment and Unsafe COVID-19 Protocols" (emphasis mine).

Here's the lede:

Bryce Mottram, a former general manager at one of quirky ice cream purveyor Ample Hills' scoop shops, has filed a lawsuit in New York Eastern District Court alleging that he was fired from the company in retaliation for speaking up about instances of sexual harassment and unsafe COVID-19 workplace protocols at the company.

I firmly believe that for the next year-plus, just about every employment-related lawsuit will contain a COVID-19 whistleblower tag-along claim. 

The number one reason not to have a labor union

You would think that an employee who purposely defecates on the workplace floor in an act of revenge against his boss and then brags about it is worthy of termination. And you'd be correct 100 percent of the time … unless that employee is a member of a labor union. An arbitration board cited the employee's lengthy, faithful service record to the company and other mitigating circumstances in reinstating him. 

How do you define success?

This week I had the pleasure of guesting on Pat Perry's Success Wave podcast. During our half-hour-plus conversation, Pat and I discussed a variety of topics, including lawyering in the time of COVID-19 and the key issues I see employers facing in 2021. We also talked about some general business questions, such as this one: How do I define "success." Here's my answer.

You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Pop culture as a means to break down inherent biases and prejudiced divides

Think about it. If you want to know where the American public is, look at the money being spent on advertising. Did you ever five years ago think every second or third ad out of five or six you turn on would be biracial couples. [Applause] No, I'm not being facetious. The reason I'm so hopeful is this new generation. They're not like us. They're thinking differently. They're more open. And we have to take advantage of it.

Those were the words of President Biden last night, speaking about race relations during his CNN Town Hall. 

He's 100 percent correct. 

Coronavirus Update 2-16-2021: Are you monitoring your remote employees?

According to this article at Wirecutter.com, employers are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a justification to enhance their monitoring of employees' activities, specifically remote employees.

As COVID-19's spread has prompted an expansion of work-from-home policies across various industries, the use of more-pervasive monitoring software, also known as "tattleware" or "bossware," has increased. The New York Times demonstrated how this software works, but the idea is simple: Once the software is installed, an employer has deeper access and even live monitoring tools for everything you do on your computer, including which applications you open, what websites you visit, and how much time you spend doing different activities. Employers can use this data to track your attendance or periodically snap screenshots of your screen. Some software can even monitor the music you listen to, your facial expressions, your tone of voice, or your writing tone throughout the day. To what purpose depends on the type of work you do—and whom you do it for.

According to Brian Kropp, VP of Research for Gartner, the number of companies that use this "tattleware" has increased from 10 percent pre-COVID to 30 percent currently. It's an epidemic all on its own.

Coronavirus Update 2-15-2021: CDC updates quarantine guidelines for vaccinated individuals

Must individuals who are fully vaccinated (i.e., have received both vaccine doses) against COVID-19 quarantine if they have been in close contact with someone who has a confirmed case of the virus?

According to guidance recently updated by the CDC, the answer is no (assuming certain criteria are met).

Coronavirus Update 2-12-2021: Doctor wrongly fired for doing the right thing with expiring COVID vaccine dose

"Ten doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would expire within hours, so a Houston doctor gave it to people with medical conditions, including his wife." So reads the lede in this New York Times story. 

What happened next? He was fired.

Coronavirus Update 2-11-2021: CDC updates its masking guidelines; should you do the same for your business?

The CDC just updated its masking guidelines, now recommending that individuals wear two masks—a well-fitting surgical mask underneath a cloth mask. 

Should you be recommending or requiring the same for your business, both for employees and visitors? 

“I’m here live. I am not a cat.”

If you were on the internet yesterday, you likely came across the story of the lawyer who accidentally presented as cat during a Zoom court hearing. The Texas lawyer had accidentally left on a cat filter during a video conference call and was unable to turn it off.

“I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” says lawyer after Zoom filter mishap

“I can see that,” responds judge pic.twitter.com/HclKlAUwbM

— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley) February 9, 2021

While this story provided everyone a much-needed laugh, it does offer two important points: one about a lawyer's ethical duty of technological competence, and another about the importance of a sense of humor and empathy.

Coronavirus Update 2-9-2021: Time off for the COVID-19 vaccine

At some point over the next few months, some (most?) of your employees will receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on the rules of your state, the nature of your business, and the age or medical issues of your employees, some may already have. I've previous covered the legal issues surrounding the vaccine, here, here, and here. Today I want to cover a practical issue—time-off related to the vaccination.

Have you felt the pain of a wage/hour investigation or lawsuit?

For the past three years, the Department of Labor has been trying to get employees PAID for their unpaid overtime and minimum wages. That's PAID, as in the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program, a creation of the Trump administration that allowed employers to self-report FLSA violations to the Department of Labor without risk of litigation, enforcement proceedings, or liquidated damages.

As of last week, however, the PAID program is history, as the DOL announced its immediate end.

Podcast recommendation: The Test Kitchen

I'm always on the lookout for new podcasts to add to my queue. Today's is a doozy. It's called The Test Kitchen, and it comes from the editors of Reply All at Gimlet Media. In four parts, it will tell a sadly familiar tale of racism and toxicity in the workplace. The workplace at issue is Bon Appétit magazine. 

Here's the set-up.

You'll find the full episode here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

No, you don’t get to keep your paid leave after your position is eliminated

The headline reads, "Trump aides made a late request to Team Biden to extend their parental leave. They said no." Here's the story:

[A] number of ex-Trump political officials … lost their parental leave when Joe Biden was sworn into office. It's a byproduct of the field they're in: Their boss (the president) may have been the one let go, but his departure has meant that they, too, lose their jobs and benefits. Still, they argue that the Biden administration should have honored their leave by keeping them on payroll until the end of it — a request that … the Biden transition did not grant.

One such employee, Vanessa Ambrosini, welcomed a new baby the week before Christmas, and was looking forward to parental leave through mid to late March. "I got completely screwed," she says.

No, Vanessa, you didn't. What you got was unemployed, a fact of which you should have been well aware since at least November 7. In fact, you should have been aware of it for more than a month before you started your maternity leave. It seems to me these employees are trying to take advantage of the consequences of which they were well aware in an attempt to make the new administration look bad. I don't buy it.

Coronavirus Update 2-3-2021: Have you had to deal with “COVID fraud” in your workplace?

According to Vice, people are using photo editing software to doctor COVID test results.

"I just fired up photoshop and changed the date," wrote one man who had doctored results for an entire group of friends to Motherboard. "Fun fact, the document [test result] was in French whereas they were in Sweden the day it was supposedly made, but they didn't see a problem in that."

The other person took a slightly less sophisticated route and changed the date of an old test with Microsoft Paint for his vacation to Southern Europe.

Coronavirus Update 2-2-2021: As new COVID-19 variants doubling down on transmissibility, OSHA doubles down on prevenative measures

"Wear a mask and stay 6 feel apart." It might sound like Groundhog Day to keep repeating this mantra. It's also the most basic and most important steps we can take to remain safe, healthy, and COVID-free.

Last week OSHA published new guidance for employers about mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. While I recommend you read it, understand it, and adopt its teachings in your workplace as best practices to keep your employees safe and healthy, I want to draw your attention to this language.

Not distinguishing between workers who are vaccinated and those who are not: Workers who are vaccinated must continue to follow protective measures, such as wearing a face covering and remaining physically distant, because at this time, there is not evidence that COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission of the virus from person-to-person. The CDC explains that experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide before deciding to change recommendations on steps everyone should take to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

How many N-words create a hostile work environment?

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to answer these questions:

Whether an employee's exposure to the N-word in the workplace is severe enough to send his Title VII hostile-work-environment claim to a trier of fact.

Whether and in what circumstances racial epithets in the workplace are "extremely serious" incidents sufficient to create a hostile work environment under Title VII, rather than nonactionable "mere utterances."

New Music Friday: “Wish I Was Ur Guitar,” by norah marie

Welcome back to New Music Friday. Today, I'm so happy to share my 14-year-old daughter's first-ever single, "Wish I Was Ur Guitar." 

I love the song (obviously) and its title. If you ask Norah she'll tell you that she usually has a hard time coming up with titles for her songs, and for this song, she thought of the title first and liked it so much she wrote the entire song around it. She performs everything on the track—lead vocal, harmonies, guitar, bass, and percussion. 

I think it’s great (although I'm quite biased), and I’m super proud of her for having the courage to share her music and creativity with the world.

I applaud any company that takes a stand in support of democracy

Meet Bob Unanue, the (for now) CEO of Goya Foods. Here he is talking to Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business.

Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue tells Maria Bartiromo how coronavirus was used for “ushering in the dawn of a new world order, this Great Reset, with an unverified election,” falsely claims 80 million people voted for Trump. “There is a war coming.”

Maybe rename the company “MyBeans”? pic.twitter.com/Kw8WXoTBLg

— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) January 20, 2021

Coronavirus Update 1-27-2021: Tread carefully if offering employees financial incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine

To a nation waiting for action, let me be clearest on this point: Help is on the way. 

Those were the words of President Biden in announcing the ordering of 200 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses, a hike in the distribution of doses to states, and a promise that there will be enough doses to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer. It's an ambitious plan, but it's what we need to end a pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 425,000 Americans and will claim hundreds of thousands more before we close the book on Covid.

Vaccines, however, only work if people actually accept syringes in their arms. Too many of us say that they won't. 

The 3rd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the pregnant pauser

Pregnancy discrimination has been illegal for at least 43 years. You'd think employers would know better. You'd also lose a lot of bets if you bet against the ignorance of some employers. 

Meet Awon Phie LLC, which operates a Holiday Inn Express in Corpus Chrisi, Texas, our third nominee for the "Worst Employer of 2021." How did it earn its nomination? According to a lawsuit the EEOC filed against it, three weeks after hiring an employee to work as a housekeeper, the company's operations manager, noticing her stomach, told her she was a "liability" because of her pregnancy, that she couldn't employ a pregnant woman, and fired her.

Coronavirus Update 1-25-2021: President Biden calls for unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to work because of Covid

Late last week, President Biden signaled that part of his overall plan to provide economic relief for American families and businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis is to broaden the availability of unemployment benefits to employees who quit their jobs related to Covid.

Specifically, the president is "asking the U.S. Department of Labor to consider clarifying that workers who refuse unsafe working conditions can still receive unemployment insurance." 

Civil rights is not a pizza

Among the litany of executive orders President Biden issued in his first two days in office was one on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. It's a beautiful statement adopting as the policy of the federal government the Supreme Court's decision in Bostock that Title VII's definition of sex explicitly includes LGBTQ employees.

Instead of reading my thoughts, today I offer you two options to listen to them

One of the great benefits of this blog is the opportunities it has opened for me to network with others. One of the great benefits of that networking is the ability to sometimes have my voice heard on other platforms. Today, I offer for your listening pleasure two podcasts on which I've recently appeared, the HR Social Hour Half Hour Podcast, and the Tech Leader's Toolbox Podcast.

Inauguration Day

Today is a wonderful day.

28 years ago, January 20, 1993, I was on the National Mall experiencing the inauguration of Bill Clinton. One of my absolute best memories. I treasure the day I spent as part of history.

Democrat or Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative, it’s a day that we should ALL come together to celebrate our nation and our glorious democracy.

So even if you disagree with the person placing his hand on the Bible and swearing the oath of office, please celebrate all that it symbolizes.

At noon, I’ll be pausing my work day and moving to my family-room couch to watch history.

How will you spend Inauguration Day? Drop a comment below and let me know.

* Pic by whitehouse.gov, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What employers can expect from Biden’s presidency: A temporary emergency OSHA standard for COVID-19

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the identification of the first COVID-19 case in the United States. On January 20, 2020, the State of Washington and the CDC confirmed that someone in Washington State had contracted the virus. Since then, 24,809,840 additional Americans have contracted Covid, and 411,520 have died from it. 

All the while, OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting health and safety in the workplace, has done very little to address the pandemic, and we still lack a national safety standard on keeping Covid-safe at work.

President Biden's OSHA will fix this glaring omission. He has called on Congress "to authorize the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a COVID-19 Protection Standard that covers a broad set of workers."

Biden calls for extension and expansion of FFCRA

As you should hopefully be aware, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the federal law that provided paid leave to employees for Covid-related absences, expired on December 31, 2020, with an option for employers to voluntarily expand leave through March 31, 2021. The problem, however, is that while this leave has expired or will soon expire, COVID-19 is not expiring any time soon.

Help, however, may soon be on the way, as part of President-elect Biden's America Rescue Plan. A key part of that plan is a significant expansion of the FFCRA.

What employers can expect from Biden’s presidency: A $15 minimum wage

This week I'll be examining what employers can expect from Joe Biden's presidency. Today, a $15 minimum wage.

Late last week President-elect Biden released his America Rescue Plan, a comprehensive legislative package to provide relief to those struggling because of COVID-19. Among its proposals was a $15 minimum wage.

The 2nd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021” is … the stillbirthing leave spurner

When I close out this contest at the end of each year I ask myself, "Jon, will you be able to find sufficiently awful nominees for the next year?" Each year answers this question with a resounding yes. 2021 is no exception.

I bring you the District of Columbia Public Schools, which denied maternity leave to a teacher after she suffered the tragedy of delivering a stillborn baby. 

H.B. 352 finally fixes Ohio’s broken employment discrimination statute for employers

For lack of more artful description, Ohio's employment discrimination law was a mess. It exposed employers to claims for up to six years (the longest such statute of limitations in the country), contained no less than three different ways for employees to file age discrimination claims (each with different remedies and filing deadlines), rendered managers and supervisors personally liable for discrimination, and omitted any filing prerequisites with the state civil rights agency.

The start of 2021, however, provides Ohio businesses much-needed reform of this previously broken law. Earlier this week, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 352 [pdf]. 

Github fires employee for using the n-word … Nazi

Software company GitHub is taking a lot of heat for firing a Jewish employee for referring to the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6 as "Nazis." The Verge has the details:

GitHub reportedly fired a Jewish employee after he posted a message in Slack that said "stay safe homies, Nazis are about" the day of the attack on the US Capitol….

The message sparked controversy inside the company, with one colleague criticizing him for using divisive language. GitHub's HR team chastised the employee for using the word "Nazi" in a company Slack channel. Two days later, GitHub allegedly fired him, citing vague patterns of behavior. 

Coronavirus Update 1-12-2021: 8 of the 10 deadliest days in US history are because of Covid

While we've all been mentally overcome by the rebellion that unfolded at the Capitol and the civil war that I fear it started, Covid-19 continues to rage around the country. Hundreds of thousands are falling ill each day, hospitals are stretched to capacity, and thousands are dying daily. The circle of people with Covid is closing in personally, and the number of calls I am receiving from clients with the question, "We've had an employee test positive; what do we do," has increased exponentially. All the while, the rollout of the vaccine, which was supposed to save us from this pandemic, has been too slow and uneven. 

The bottom line is that Covid-19 continues to win. 

“Beware systemic discrimination,” says EEOC to employers

Systemic discrimination has multiple meanings, according to the EEOC:

• A "pattern or practice, policy, and/or class cases where the discrimination has a broad impact on an industry, profession, company, or geographic location."
• "Bias that is built into systems, originating in the way work is organized," referring to "structures that shape the work environment or employment prospects differently for different types of workers."
• "Patterns of behavior that develop within organizations that disadvantage certain employees and become harmful to productivity."

Regardless of you define it, in a report published last Friday, the EEOC says that it pursuing systemic discrimination as an enforcement priority to dismantle the pattern, practice, or policy that results in or facilitates discriminatory decisions.

When you discover that you employ a seditious rebel #TraitorsGettingFired

Imagine you discover that Elizabeth from Knoxville is one of your employees.

Elizabeth wasn’t ready for the revolution to be televised😂 pic.twitter.com/LibeNAuE6h

— xy467chr (@xy467chr) January 6, 2021

Or what about Jake Angeli (the self-proclaimed QAnon shamen)?

Why is Jake Angeli walking free? If he can be named in this article, and he was part of the insurrectionist movement yesterday, he committed a crime by invading the Capitol and he should be arrested. https://t.co/5hUbek57nc

— Dr. HawaiiDelilah™ (@HawaiiDelilah) January 7, 2021

Or Paul Davis?

This is Paul Davis. Paul is a lawyer. He’s also associate general counsel & director of human resources at Goosehead Insurance. Today he stormed the capitol building in an attempt to stage a coup against the US government and documented it (!) on Instagram. @followgoosehead pic.twitter.com/eTkoK92ujL

— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) January 7, 2021

Or this guy, who actually wore his work badge to the protest?

NEW: A Maryland company has terminated one of its employees after he was apparently captured in a picture during the mob riot in the Capitol yesterday. @wbaltv11 pic.twitter.com/flxRhdmP3P

— Tre Ward (@TreWardWBAL) January 7, 2021

Or any of the others amid the hoard of seditious rebels who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday in an act of open rebellion against the United States and its government?

Question: Should these people be fired from their jobs?

I’m pretty far from okay

I’m not okay with what happened yesterday. I’m angry, I’m sad, and I’m scared for the future of our country and our democracy. 

A seditious insurrection stormed the Capitol in an attempted coup designed the stop the peaceful transfer of power and overthrow our democracy. Nothing about this is acceptable. It’s abjectly deplorable and antithetical to everything for which our country stands.

Nobody should be okay with what happened yesterday.

If you don’t reject what happened without reservation or qualification, please unfollow me. 

I’m not in Kansas anymore … or ever (an unemployment fraud story)

What's wrong with this photo?

The 1st nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2021" is … the bogus bonus payor

We all felt for Clark Griswold when, instead of his expected year-end bonus, he received a one-year membership to the Jelly of the Month Club (the gift that keeps on giving the whole year). 

Think about Clark's outrage when you read this story, which recently made the rounds (c/o The Verge):

What's the cruelest prank you can make on employees who are struggling during a pandemic when millions of people have lost their jobs or lives? GoDaddy … tried to find out when it sent employees a fake email informing them they'd receive a $650 holiday bonus. …

Coronavirus Update 1-4-2021: DOL approves telemedicine visits to establish a serious health condition under the FMLA

With the COVID-19 pandemic closing health-care-provider offices or severely limiting patient access, many have turned to telehealth to remotely obtain healthcare from the safety of their homes. The question arose, however, whether these remote visits would qualify as "treatment" under the FMLA's qualifying definition of a "serious health condition," which under the FMLA's regulations requires an "in-person visit to a health care provider," and does not include "a phone call, letter, email, or text message."

While you were celebrating your December holidays, the Department of Labor issued a Field Assistance Bulletin [pdf] addressing this issue. 

’Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas

In what has become an annual tradition for my final post of the year, I bring you the holiday classic, ’Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas.

To all of my readers, after a 2020 no one will ever forget, thank you all for reading, commenting, and sharing, and please have a happy and safe holiday season. I’ll see everyone on January 4, 2021, with fresh content to kick off the new year.

---

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the office
Not a creature was stirring … well, just one of the bosses;
The bonuses were paid by the company with care,
In hopes that no ungrateful employees would swear.

Coronavirus Update 12-22-2020: Congress approves an FFCRA extension (sort of)

Late yesterday, Congress approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, better known as its $900 billion COVID-19 rescue stimulus. President Trump is expected to sign it into law.

Buried within the bill's 5593 pages (on pages 2033 - 2037) is an extension of tax credits for paid sick and family leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which otherwise would have expired on December 31.

Worst Employer(s) of 2020: The Winners

It brings me tremendous joy to announce the Worst Employer(s) of 2020.

Coronavirus Update 12-21-2020: Ensuring compliance with your Covid safety protocols shouldn’t be a mission impossible

British newspaper The Sun published leaked audio capturing Tom Cruise angrily addressing two crew members who he believed had breached Covid-19 protocols while filming "Mission Impossible 7."

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear

In his semi-eponymous movie, Buddy the Elf famously explained, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." 

Today, I'm choosing to use my valuable internet space to spread some Christmas cheer of my own. Please don't worry, it's not me singing, which would spread whatever the opposite of cheer is. Instead, it's my resident songstress, Norah Marie, who used her iPhone to self-record and mix this lovely (IMHO) cover of "Jingle Bell Rock."

norah marie · jingle bell rock

Coronavirus Update 12-17-2020, part 2: The COVID-19 vaccine and race discrimination

One issue the EEOC omitted from its technical guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine is the issue of race discrimination. 

According to one recent study, 57% of African Americans say that they definitely or probably will not get the COVID-19 vaccine. Many point to their distrust of the federal government fueled by decades of medical studies on Black people, including the Tuskegee Experiment, which left hundreds of Black men untreated for syphilis between 1932 and 1972.

If you are going to adopt a mandatory vaccination policy for your workplace (which the EEOC says you can do, subject to reasonable accommodation exceptions under the ADA for medical issues and Title VII for sincerely held religious beliefs or observances), then you must account for the possibility of that policy having a disparate impact based on race. Otherwise, you might be setting yourself up for a potential race discrimination lawsuit.

* Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Coronavirus Update 12-17-2020: EEOC releases guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine

Yesterday, the EEOC published its guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine under the ADA and GINA, in the form of nine Q & As. You can read them in their totality here. 

The TL;DR: yes, you can force employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment (although the should is an entirely different issue), subject to limits on reasonable accommodations for employees' disabilities and sincerely held religious practices or beliefs and subject to limits on pre-vaccination medical questions.

My one work rule to rule them all

George Carlin was a genius. He just had a way of breaking down language into its most simple parts. Whether it was The 7 Dirty Words or The 10 Commandments, Carlin was just brilliant with language. For example, he dismantled each of the 10 Commandments into just two:

First:

• Thou shalt always be honest and faithful, especially to the provider of thy nookie.

And second:

• Thou shalt try real hard not to kill anyone, unless, of course, they pray to a different invisible man than the one you pray to.

I thought of this yesterday after stumbling upon a tweetstorm authored by Kate Bischoff reacting to this New York Times article suggesting that Jeffrey Toobin's long and esteemed career justifies that he should get his job back despite his Zoom full monty faux pas. 

Coronavirus Update 12-15-2020: Don’t be this a-hole

According to Cleveland.com, a pair of Ohio parents are facing possible criminal charges after piling 60 maskless teenagers into a party bus to celebrate their son's 14th birthday.

Police learned a parent had arranged for the party bus, which originated in Cincinnati…. The parent had posted an open invitation on social media, police say.

If you’re tired of reading about the Worst Employer voting, you can now listen to me talk about it

Marc Alifanz and Kate Bischoff are two of my favorite people. They also happen to host one of my favorite podcasts, Hostile Work Environment. I promise that I'm not just dishing out these high praises because Marc and Kate invited me to guest on this week's episode to discuss the 10 nominees for this year's Worst Employer poll. 

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you choose to get your podcasts. (And while you're there do us all a favor and click that subscribe button if you already haven't.)

Coronavirus Update 12-11-2020: Food insecurity

One of the great tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic is the number of Americans who are without enough food to eat. It is estimated that nearly 1 out of every 4 households have experienced food insecurity at some point in 2020 (up from 1 out of 10 in 2019). That's an additional 20 million households, or 52.5 Americans, who at some point this year were or continue to be unable to acquire enough food to meet their basic needs or were uncertain of where their next meal will come from. Tens of millions of our fellow Americans are going hungry because of COVID-19.

On Sunday, December 20, at 6 pm, my daughter will be playing an online gig in support of the Hunger Network. The gig is part of this month's 48 Hour Virtual Music Fest, a local monthly online concert series that supports a different cause each month. This month's Fest is in conjunction with WJCU's Blizzard Bash, an annual event put on by John Carroll University's radio station, which this year is being held virtually. 

Have you cast your vote yet for the Worst Employer(s) of 2020?

2017: The Cancerous Boss (employer fires employee after his cancer diagnosis because she doesn't "need people with cancer working in her office," and "in America you have to work even if you're sick")

2018: The Murdering Manager (company owner hires two men to rough-up a handyman who was not doing his job, and they accidentally kill him)

2019: The Barbaric Boss (employer forces intellectually disabled African-American employee to work excessive hours for no pay, and abuses him for mistakes, including belt beatings and hot grease burns)

2020: ???

Who will join this dubious list? Please help me fill in those question marks. 

Time is running out for you to cast your ballot for this year's Worst Employers. 

Click here to vote in each of the two categories—Overall Worst Employer, and COVID-19 Worst Employer. I'll be announcing the winners (or losers, depending on your perspective) next week.

* Photo by Marcel Strauß on Unsplash

Coronavirus Update 12-9-2020: Maskual harassment, part 2

"I wish I could see your pretty lips if they match ur eyes."

"Come on, sweetie. Lemme see that pretty face under there. Take it off for me, will you? Just a quick flash."

"I can be covid and make you short of breath."

"I don't wear a condom; I sure as hell aren't going to wear a mask!"

"Social distancing? My pocket rocket can still reach you."

"I'll take your mask off and stick my tongue down your throat."

These are just a few of the hundreds of awful and offensive comments to which service industry workers reported being subjected while working during COVID (report here).

Coronavirus Update 12-8-2020: Tipped restaurant and other service workers at high risk for “maskual harassment"

Everyone has been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Service industry employees, however, have been hit particularly hard. Many are out of work. And those that are able to work are worker fewer hours and earning less in wages and tips.

Moreover, according to this survey (h/t: NPR), a majority of service industry workers are being forced to choose between earning valuable tips and staying safe by wearing a mask.

Consider these statistics regarding tipped employees:

Coronavirus Update 12-7-2020: Vaccines

We are days away from the FDA approving two different COVID-19 vaccines, and it is being reported that the first people could start receiving the vaccine as early as Friday.

While I covered the topic of employer-mandated vaccines earlier this year, I understand that everyone doesn't necessarily see or read every post I write. Thus, because of just how important this issue will quickly become for employers, today I'm directing you to my thoughts from three months ago: Coronavirus Update 9-1-2020: Vaccines — can an employer require them; should an employer require them?

Coronavirus Update 12-4-2020: COVID is like a blizzard

I didn't write today's post. My healthcare worker sister-in-law did. Hopefully she doesn't mind that I'm sharing what she posted on Facebook earlier this week. 

Coronavirus Update 12-3-2020: CDC cuts recommended quarantine period from 14 days to 7 – 10 days (sort of)

Yesterday, the CDC amended its guidance on the duration of quarantine for individuals in close contact with someone else positive with COVID-19. We need to pay close attention to the fine print. All of the headlines are reporting that the CDC has shortened its recommended COVID-19 quarantine period. That's not, however, what happened.

Coronavirus Update 12-2-2020: Congress must extend the FFCRA

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the federal law that provides paid sick and family leave to employees for COVID-19-related absences, ends in 29 days. By its terms, the law sunsets on December 31. 

Yesterday, news broke of a new coronavirus relief bill that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will put forward. It will include important measures such as the extension of unemployment insurance expansions for another month, another round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) small business assistance, and additional funding for the USPS, schools, testing, and vaccine distribution.

What doesn't it include? Any extension of the FFCRA.

VOTE for the Worst Employer of 2020

It's officially election season for the Worst Employer of 2020. 

Since it is 2020, however, this can't be a normal Worst Employer election. This year we have two categories: Worst Employer, and Worst Employer COVID-19 Edition.

Coronavirus Update 11-23-2020: Thankful

2020 has certainly been a year like no other. People are sick and dying. Hospitals are filling up. Our essential workers are stressed and tired.

I'm tired, too. Part of what's making me tired is continuing to hear people complain about "2020" when we have so much for which to be thankful.

Here's my list of everything for which I have been and continue to be thankful during the pandemic.

Coronavirus Update 11-20-2020: The 12th nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … bad bettor

Do you remember that scene from The Deer Hunter where Christopher Walken plays Russian roulette in a betting parlor, while the patrons place bets on whether he'll live or die with every pull of the revolver's trigger? That's what I thought of as I read the allegations in Fernandez v. Tyson Foods, and not in a good way.

According to the lawsuit, while COVID-19 was running rampant through Tyson's Waterloo, Iowa, facility, the Plant Manager "organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19."

Coronavirus Update 11-19-2020: Cuyahoga County issues four-week stay-at-home advisory

Yesterday afternoon, Cuyahoga County, Ohio's largest, issued a four-week stay-at-home advisory. It took effect immediately, and is in addition to the 21-day 10 pm – 5 am statewide curfew Governor DeWine implemented yesterday and which takes effect tonight. 

Let's examine why it was issued, what is says, and what it means for your business.

Coronavirus Update 11-18-2020: WFHH (work from home harassment)

For last night's dinner, I decided to use the leftover meatballs from the prior night's spaghetti dinner to make meatball subs. The only problem? No hoagie rolls, which led to the following conversation with my wife:

Me: I need to stop and get buns for dinner.

Her: Ooh, will you toast them?

Me: I'll toast your buns alright.

Her: That's sexual harassment!

Me: Take it up with HR.