The COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned for Labor and Employment Practitioners

In March 2020, President Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency, leading to restrictions and shutdowns. Employers were faced with new legal challenges, and lawyers had to quickly adapt to help their clients navigate the pandemic. One important lesson learned was the necessity of staying updated on government guidance from agencies like the CDC and OSHA to ensure employers were following the rules and minimizing legal risks. This experience will help lawyers better advise their clients in future emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC’s guidance was the most important for workplaces. OSHA and the EEOC both relied on the CDC’s guidance when making their own rules. This means that businesses had to follow the CDC’s guidance to also meet OSHA and EEOC requirements. For example, OSHA’s guidance for COVID-19 was similar to the CDC’s workplace guidance. Many employers, like office businesses, may not have been familiar with OSHA’s rules, so it was important for them to learn about OSHA’s general duty clause and how it applied to their workplace. Labor and employment experts helped their clients understand these rules and how to follow them properly. Employers have a duty to keep the workplace safe from hazards, not just during the pandemic, but also during natural disasters like hurricanes. Lawyers and employers have been relying on guidance from the EEOC to navigate new issues related to the pandemic. This guidance has allowed for things like temperature checks and COVID-19 screenings at work. Overall, employers have a responsibility to keep the workplace safe for their employees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal agencies like the EEOC provided clear information for employers to follow EEO laws. This allowed lawyers to help employers comply with the laws. The pandemic also showed that legal advice during a crisis can change quickly because of new rules. Some employers wanted to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for their employees, and the EEOC said this is okay as long as they make accommodations for people with disabilities or religious beliefs. They also warned that asking employees about their family medical history could cause legal issues. On April 2, 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis banned vaccine passports in Florida and said that businesses can’t make people prove they got the COVID-19 vaccine. Then on May 3, 2021, he made it a law. This means that public employers can’t make their employees get the vaccine, and private employers can only require it if they give certain exceptions. But then, the government said that big companies have to make their employees get the vaccine, even though it goes against Florida’s law. This puts private companies in a tough spot because they could get in trouble with either the state or the federal government. Florida’s private employers were saved from having to follow conflicting state and federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates when the U.S. Supreme Court blocked OSHA’s mandate. This taught businesses that they should focus on following the requirements that are currently in effect and being enforced. It also advised employers to prioritize compliance with state laws over federal rules when there is a conflict. For example, when OSHA postponed its vaccine mandate, employers in Florida were advised to prioritize following the state’s rules to avoid penalties. Ultimately, it was important for employers to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling before making decisions about COVID-19 vaccine policies. It’s important for Florida employers to have a teleworking policy in place for emergencies like pandemics or hurricanes. Many employers didn’t have these policies before, so it’s important for lawyers to include them in employee handbooks. When drafting these policies, lawyers need to consider how it might affect an employee’s request for accommodation under the ADA. The policy should clearly state that certain job functions may be excused temporarily during an emergency, but employees will be expected to return to the workplace once the emergency is over. Having a plan for employees to return to work after an emergency can help reduce resistance and promote unity among employees. Public employers are required to have rules for working from home. They have to make a plan that includes things like how to make sure employees are doing their work well. Employers in both the public and private sectors also need to have clear rules for recording hours worked by employees who can work from home. This is important because those employees might end up doing work when they’re not supposed to. It’s a good idea for companies to be strict about following these rules to avoid getting in trouble with the law. During the pandemic, more people worked from home. If an employee got hurt while working at home, they might try to get workers’ compensation. In one case, a court said an employee who tripped over her dog at home couldn’t get workers’ compensation because it wasn’t really related to her job. Another recent case said that just because the cause of the injury at work is unknown, it doesn’t mean the employee can’t get workers’ compensation. It’s still unclear if working from home makes a difference in these cases. The pandemic created a lot of new issues for people who work and their employers. When a crisis like this affects laws about working, lawyers need to stay updated so they can give the best advice to their clients. They also need to learn from this crisis and make sure their clients are ready for the next one. For example, they should think about things like working from home and make sure their clients have good rules in place for that.

Some important resources for this are the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They have information about laws related to COVID-19 and work.

The Florida state government is also important because they made laws related to COVID-19 and work. This includes a law that says employers can’t make their employees get a vaccine.

There was a lot of confusion about these laws, and even the courts couldn’t agree on what the right thing to do was. This made it really hard for lawyers to give good advice to their clients.

In the end, the U.S. Department of Labor made a rule saying that some workers had to get a COVID-19 vaccine. This was really controversial and a lot of people didn’t like it. The courts also had trouble figuring out if it was legal. In the end, the rule was cancelled, and employers don’t have to make their employees get a vaccine. But it’s still important for lawyers to stay updated on any changes to this rule. This is an article written by lawyers who specialize in labor and employment law. They work for a law firm in Tampa and have a lot of experience in this area. The article was written on behalf of the Labor and Employment Law Section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-covid-19-pandemic-lessons-learned-for-labor-and-employment-practitioners/