News

Friday, Eldredge & Clark is a member of the Employment Law Alliance (ELA), the world's largest group of labor and employment law firms. Friday Firm partner, Daniel Herrington, is a member of the ELA Occupational Safety and Health law group. On October 20, 2021, Dan participated, along with other members of ELA OSH law group, in a meeting with the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). This division within the Office of Management and the Budget is responsible for review of the OSHA ETS that will require employers of 100 or more employees to require employees to be vaccinated or to be tested weekly. Representatives of OIRA, OSHA, the DOL Office of Solicitor, and Office of Policy participated in the call.

Last month, President Biden announced plans to implement a vaccine mandate for qualifying employers, medical facilities, and federal employees and contractors. At the time, officials indicated that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) would enforce the mandate with fines of up to nearly $14,000 per violation. A recently proposed bill, H.R. 5376 a.k.a. the “Build Back Better Act,” is making its way through Congress and proposes much larger fines against violating employers, however. The proposed resolution was approved by the House Budget Committee and introduced on the House floor on September 27, 2021.

Friday, Eldredge & Clark’s Labor and Employment attorneys were recently presented the Friend of HR Profession Award at the Arkansas SHRM 2021 HR Conference.

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.