News

On September 9, President Biden announced sweeping new policies that, if implemented, will require mandatory vaccination policies for federal employees and contractors and qualifying employers and healthcare facilities. The mandates will cover approximately 100 million Americans, which make up two-thirds of the workforce. We expect further guidance for employers and healthcare facilities to be issued in the coming weeks.

In the latest episode of Employment Matters Podcast, produced by the Employment Law Alliance, Attorney Katherine C. Campbell talks about the questions and challenges that are being faced by businesses either as employees return to the office or continue to work remotely.

Private party wage and hour litigation has increased substantially over the last decade. Our review of court filings indicates that almost one private wage and hour lawsuit per day is filed in Arkansas. If you have not been sued yet, you are likely to be the target of such a suit in the near future. We also note that the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor continues its increased focus into traditional wage hour matters. The slightly good news is that the Wage and Hour Division now has a portal much like the EEOC, which allows employers to upload documents and not have an investigator on site in all circumstances.

On July 27, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued new interim public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people to provide guidance regarding mask-wearing for vaccinated individuals in light of the highly-transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19. The updated guidance does not address unvaccinated individuals because the CDC has continued to recommend mask-wearing in most settings for unvaccinated individuals.

As we all read the news reports the last week or so, the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus is spreading quickly among the unvaccinated portion of society. Also, the pace of vaccinations in Arkansas has slowed with still fewer than one million Arkansans fully vaccinated. In response to this surge, hospitals, including UAMS, are reopening their Covid-19 units. This surge and the reaction by healthcare providers will have a ripple effect of causing limitations in healthcare services available for non-Covid needs.

It may seem a little late in the game, but acting in response to an Executive Order, OSHA issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on June 10, 2021. This ETS only applies to “Healthcare Employers,” but that definition is broad – encompassing all settings where any employee provides “healthcare services” or “healthcare support services.”

Friday, Eldredge & Clark has been selected to join the Employment Law Alliance (ELA) as the exclusive member for Arkansas.