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.