10.02.2024New Complaint Questions the Constitutionality of the Occupational Safety and Health Review CommissionKenric Steel, LLC, a New Jersey based steel fabrication company, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey alleging that the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), an independent federal commission, should not decide whether Kenric Steel, LLC has to pay $348,000 in penalties for alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The penalty assessed includes citations for willful violations.
07.09.2024Chevron’s Passing Likely to Reshape Labor and Employment Law as SCOTUS Questions Presumption of Agency Subject Matter ExpertiseOn June 28, 2024 the Supreme Court overruled the 40-year-old landmark ruling known as Chevron, a doctrine of administrative law that has until now required courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutory language. By doing so, the Court has created opportunities for court challenges to agency regulations including those issued by federal labor law and equal employment law agencies.
01.14.2022High Court Blocks OSHA Vaccine or Test MandateYesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the implementation of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standards (“OSHA ETS”) that had applied to all private employers with 100 or more employees. OSHA’s standards had required these employers to issue a written policy requiring their employees be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. Several business groups and states challenged the OSHA ETS.
11.10.2021Federal Government Issues Regulations Regarding Vaccine Mandates for Private EmployersRecently, we published a blog post describing the numerous state and federal vaccine mandates that have been announced. We noted that we were awaiting Emergency Temporary Standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and revised regulations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) regarding further vaccine mandates. OSHA and CMS released these regulations on November 4, 2021. Given the broad reach of these new requirements, employers must quickly assess the impact of the requirements on their workforces and, if necessary, implement policy changes.
10.29.2021Governor Murphy Requires Vaccination or Testing for All State ContractorsOn October 20, 2021, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 271, which requires that New Jersey state contractors mandate vaccination or weekly COVID-19 testing for all their employees. This follows several other vaccine mandates that have been imposed by the State of New Jersey and the federal government. As these mandates go into effect, public and private employers need to be aware of their obligations under state and federal law to vaccinate and/or test their employees for COVID-19.
09.21.2021NY HERO Act COVID-19 Designation Activates Employer Prevention PlansOn September 6, 2021, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State Commissioner of Health has designated COVID-19 a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (HERO Act), thus requiring all employers to implement workplace safety plans to prevent workplace airborne infectious disease outbreaks.
12.07.2020A Forklift Operator Walks into a BarOn August 7, 2020, the New Jersey Appellate Division upheld the trial court’s dismissal of a negligence action filed by a leased warehouse worker against his employer for injuries sustained while on duty.
11.06.2020New Jersey Enacts New COVID-19 Workplace Safety ProtocolsEffective 6:00 am on Thursday, November 5, 2020, pursuant to Governor Phil Murphy’s October 28, 2020 Executive Order 192 (“EO 192” and “Order”), every New Jersey business which operates with employees and customers physical present at the worksite, will be required to comply with the State’s new COVID-19 workplace safety protocols.
05.07.2020Hail Mary (Jane): New York City Weeds Out Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing on May 10New York City’s ban on pre-employment drug testing for marijuana goes into effect this weekend, on May 10, 2020. The law makes it an “unlawful discriminatory practice” to require a prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols (“THC”), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, as a condition of employment.
03.13.2020OSHA Issues Pertaining to Coronavirus (COVID-19)The current Coronavirus Pandemic (“COVID-19”) presents many complex situations for employers and their respective workforces. While management is trying to navigate the maze of wage and hour issues, FMLA and ADA leave, remote workspaces, and childcare, they must also keep in mind their legal obligation to keep employees safe pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”). Genova Burns Partner, Douglas E. Solomon, Esq., comments on several important OSHA questions.
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