COVID-19: News and Updates |
| Special #18 - April 14, 2020 |
|
Articles Today
- Reductions in Force: Toolkit Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
- LEGAL BULLETIN - New guidance from CDC\
provides model for OSHA compliance
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP April 14, 2020
- LEGAL BULLETIN - OSHA tries to simplify recording of COVID-19 cases on employers’ OSHA 300 Logs Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLPApril 13, 2020
- ¶46,857 Updated EEOC technical assistance discusses intersection of COVID-19 and antidiscrimination laws — AGENCY GUIDANCE, April 14, 2020
- Georgia Business Resources VIRTUAL CONFERENCE -- April 16, 2020 Featuring Raphael Bostic, President & CEO for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Ashley D. Bell, Regional Administrator for the SBA.
|
| Join us for a
On April 15th at 1pm - 2pm EDT
|
| | | |
Reductions in Force: Toolkit
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
RSVP for Reductions in Force: Toolkit
The Reduction in Force Planning Toolkit is a series of articles, guidance, forms and action plans designed to assist employers in preparing for and implementing a reduction in force. The toolkit deals with issues typically involved with a reduction in force, including employee selection, severance benefits, WARN notices, separation agreements, and communications with employees and other stakeholders.
The material in this Toolkit is intended to provide general information relating to reductions in force. As a result of recent events involving COVID-19, there may be federal, state or local legislation or regulations that affect reduction in force planning and implementation.
Constangy attorneys stand ready 24-7 to counsel you with sensitive matters of layoffs and other reductions in force—now, within the Coronavirus environment—or into the longer term.
Fill out the form below to download a complimentary copy of The Reduction in Force Planning Toolkit.
|
| | | LEGAL BULLETIN
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
April 14, 2020
New guidance from CDC provides model for OSHA compliance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have just issued a new Interim Guidance Document titled “Implementing Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19.”
Among those covered as “critical infrastructure workers” are workers in “food and agriculture, critical manufacturing, informational technology, transportation, energy and government.” This is very useful guidance because it provides a model for employers to follow when dealing with known COVID-19 exposure cases. Implementation of these recommended measures will afford employers with a cogent response should the Occupational Safety and Health Administration begin an investigation of employee complaints that employers are not adequately protecting them against the spread of COVID-19.
Please understand that the information about COVID-19 and the government’s recommendations for mitigating its spread evolve almost daily. But as of April 8, the CDC and CISA, and therefore OSHA, suggest the following precautions for an employee who has had a potential exposure but is still asymptomatic:
- Take the employee’s temperature and assess the employee’s symptoms before the employee enters the facility.
- While the employee is still asymptomatic, have him or her self-monitor under the supervision of the employer’s occupational health program.
- Require the employee to wear “a face mask,” presumably at least a surgical mask or other face covering that has not been approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, while at work, for 14 days.
- Maintain distancing of at least six feet “as work duties permit in the workplace.”
- Routinely disinfect and clean offices, bathrooms, common areas, and shared electronic equipment.
If the employee becomes sick or symptomatic, he or she should be sent home immediately. The work area where the sick employee was working should be cleaned and disinfected.
Employers are also advised to identify any other employees who, within two days of the symptoms’ surfacing, had close contact within six feet of the sick employee. The CDC does not say that such potentially exposed employees must be quarantined, but rather identified and monitored.
The April 8 Guidance Document also references an earlier CDC Guidance Document, titled “Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),” which has been updated as of March 21. In addition, OSHA is still relying on its March 9 “Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19” as the framework for employers to follow in developing and implementing their plans for mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Under OSHA’s Guidance Document, it is suggested that employers should first identify which of four levels of worker exposure is presented at the workplace, including a job-specific or work-station-specific analysis, and then based on the level of risk, develop and implement control measures, ranging from engineering controls (such as plexiglass screens) to administrative controls (such as encouraging sick employees to stay home), as well as safe work practices (such as hand-washing and physical distancing), and personal protective equipment (increasingly, dust masks if not N95 respirators). The selection of control measures will depend on the circumstances that exist at individual workplaces. OSHA has also provided a poster identifying 10 steps for employers to take in their COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
Lessons learned
With OSHA’s April 8 News Release advising employers not to retaliate against employees who report what employees believe to be unsafe conditions during the Coronavirus Pandemic, this is a good time for employers to measure their COVID-19 mitigation plans against these CDC/CISA/OSHA Guidance Documents. Employers should also take into consideration state and local laws, which may place greater restrictions than those outlined by the CDC or OSHA. Additionally, other federal, state, and local laws may be
implicated by the implementation of these guidelines, for example, temperature taking.
|
| |
LEGAL BULLETIN
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP April 13, 2020
OSHA tries to simplify recording of COVID-19 cases on employers’ OSHA 300 Logs
In an Interim Guidance Memorandum issued on Friday, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration has attempted to simplify the decision making for most employers in determining whether employees who are diagnosed with COVID-19 contracted the disease at work.
OSHA distinguishes in the memo between employers (1) in the health care industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, and law enforcement services), correctional institutions, and (2) all other types of employers. Employers in the first group are still required to comply with the existing § 1904 injury and illness recordkeeping requirements. Employers in the second group – most employers – are largely excused from having to investigate and determine whether a COVID-19 case is work-related. In other words, as described further below, unless the determination of work-relatedness is presented to employers by employees or by health care providers, employers have no obligation to investigate whether a COVID-19 case is work-related.
Generally speaking, for a COVID-19 case to be recordable on an OSHA 300 Log, the following recordkeeping analysis must be made:
- The case is a confirmed or diagnosed case of COVID-19, as defined by the CDC,
- The case is work-related as defined under § 1904.5(b)(2), and
- Any of the five general recording criteria set forth in § 1904.7 are met:
- Medical treatment
- Restricted work activity
- Day(s) away from work
- Loss of consciousness
- Death
As a practical matter, this means that to be recordable, a work-related case must have resulted in medical treatment, day(s) away from work, or death.
For a case to be work-related for the second group of employers, there must be “objective evidence” that the employee contracted COVID-19 in the work environment. OSHA offers an example: “a number of cases developing among workers who work closely together without an alternative explanation.” OSHA further explains that this “objective evidence” must be “reasonably available” to the employer, which means, for example, that the evidence was “given to the employer by employees” or the employer learns the circumstances “in the ordinary course of managing its business and employees.”
What this guidance for the second group of employers seems to suggest is that the only COVID-19 cases that would be determined to be work-related involve situations where there are (1) a known, active COVID-19 case in the work environment (or in the Agency’s example, “a number” of such cases), (2) another employee working in close proximity (less than six feet) to the known, active case, and (3) no other contact with a known COVID-19 case away from work. And OSHA seems to be saying that an employer does not have to conduct an investigation to determine whether the case is work-related. The information supporting work-relatedness would, in essence, have to be presented to the employer by employees or in some other manner, perhaps by a medical care provider or the Public Health Department.
Health care and the other types of employers listed by OSHA in the first group are still tasked with applying the existing injury and illness recordkeeping regulations described above. Therefore, there is no relaxation of the recordkeeping rules for the first group of employers.
The Interim Guidance for the recording of COVID-19 cases is intended to apply as well in states that have their own OSHA Plans.
Although the Interim Guidance does not address the circumstances under which COVID-19 cases would need to be reported to OSHA, the requirements are the same for either group of employers. A case involving an employee with a diagnosed COVID-19 case must be reported to OSHA if the employee - Is admitted to a hospital within 24 hours of the exposure, or
- Dies within 30 days of the exposure.
If either of these events occurs, the admission into a hospital would need to be reported to OSHA within 24 hours or within 8 hours if a fatality occurs.
|
| |
¶46,857 Updated EEOC technical assistance discusses intersection of COVID-19 and antidiscrimination laws — AGENCY GUIDANCE, On April 9, the EEOC posted an updated and expanded technical assistance publication addressing questions arising under federal antidiscrimination laws related to the COVID-19 pandemic. "What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws" expands on previous technical assistance that focused on the ADA and Rehabilitation Act (see ‘What you should know about the ADA, the Rehab Act, and COVID-19,’ March 19, 2020). The new assistance document also adds questions-and-answers that address common inquiries.
The EEOC told employers to remember that guidance from public health authorities is likely to change as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, and so they should continue to follow the most current information on maintaining workplace safety.
This latest What You Should Know publication adds several Q&As that address COVID-19-related workplace issues, providing the following guidance:
Disability-related inquiries and medical exams. When screening employees entering the workplace during this time, employers are not limited to asking employees about the COVID-19 symptoms identified by the EEOC as examples. Employers should rely on the CDC, other public health authorities, and reputable medical sources for guidance on emerging symptoms associated with the disease. These sources may guide employers when choosing questions to ask employees to determine whether they would pose a direct threat to health in the workplace. For example, additional symptoms beyond fever or cough may include new loss of smell or taste as well as gastrointestinal problems, such as nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Confidentiality of medical information. Q&As addressing the confidentiality of medical information explained the following:
- The ADA requires that all medical information about a particular employee be stored separately from the employee's personnel file, thus limiting access to this confidential information. An employer may store all medical information related to COVID-19 in existing medical files, including an employee's statement that he has the disease or suspects he has the disease, or the employer's notes or other documentation from questioning an employee about symptoms.
- An employer that requires all employees to have a daily temperature check before entering the workplace, may maintain a log of the results, but the employer needs to maintain the confidentiality of this information.
- An employer may disclose the name of an employee to a public health agency when it learns that the employee has COVID-19.
- A temporary staffing agency or a contractor that places an employee in an employer's workplace may notify the employer if it learns the employee has COVID-19, and also disclose the name of the employee, because the employer may need to determine if this employee had contact with anyone in the workplace.
Hiring and onboarding. The EEOC said that an employer may not postpone the start date or withdraw a job offer because the individual is 65 years old or pregnant, both of which place them at higher risk from COVID-19. The fact that the CDC has identified those who are 65 or older, or pregnant women, as being at greater risk does not justify unilaterally postponing the start date or withdrawing a job offer—but the employer may want to permit telework or discuss with these new hires whether they would like to postpone the start date.
Accommodation of pre-existing disability. The EEOC also addressed the scenario under which a job may only be performed at the workplace and whether there are reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities absent undue hardship that could offer protection to an employee who, due to a preexisting disability, is at greater risk from COVID-19. There may be reasonable accommodations that could offer protection to an employee whose disability puts him at greater risk from COVID-19 and who therefore requests such actions to eliminate potential exposure. The EEOC noted that even given the constraints imposed by a pandemic, some accommodations may meet an employee’s needs on a temporary basis without causing undue hardship on the employer.
Low-cost solutions. If not already implemented for all employees, accommodations for those who request reduced contact with others due to a disability may include changes to the work environment such as: designating one-way aisles; using plexiglass, tables, or other barriers to ensure minimum distances between customers and coworkers whenever feasible per CDC guidance; or other accommodations that reduce chances of exposure.
Flexibility. The EEOC also stressed the importance of employers and employees being flexible in determining whether an accommodation is possible in the circumstances. To permit an individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job safely while reducing exposure to others in the workplace or while commuting, consider:
- Temporary job restructuring of marginal job duties;
- Temporary transfers to a different position;
- Modifying a work schedule or shift assignment.
Exacerbated mental illness or disorder. As to whether an employee with a preexisting mental illness or disorder that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation, the EEOC noted that employees with certain preexisting mental health conditions, for example, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder, may have more difficulty handling the disruption to daily life that has accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. As is the case with any accommodation request, employers may:
- Ask questions to determine whether the condition is a disability;
- Discuss with the employee how the requested accommodation would assist him and enable him to keep working;
- Explore alternative accommodations that may effectively meet his needs; and
- Request medical documentation if needed.
Accommodations needed after teleworking ends. In a workplace where all employees are required to telework during this time, an employer should not necessarily postpone discussing a request from an employee with a disability for an accommodation that will not be needed until he returns to the workplace when mandatory telework ends. An employer may give higher priority to discussing requests for reasonable accommodations that are needed while teleworking, but the employer may begin discussing this request now. The employer may be able to acquire all the information it needs to make a decision, and if a reasonable accommodation is granted, may be able to make some arrangements for the accommodation in advance.
Additional or altered accommodation. The EEOC said that an employee who was already receiving a reasonable accommodation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic may be entitled to an additional or altered accommodation, absent undue hardship. For example, an employee who is teleworking because of the pandemic may need a different type of accommodation than what the employee uses in the workplace. Here, the employer may discuss with the employee whether this new request is based on the same or a different disability, and why an additional or altered accommodation is needed.
Other resources. The EEOC has provided resources on its website related to the pandemic in an employment context and will continue to monitor developments and provide assistance to the public as needed.
Source: EEOC: What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.
|
| | | Georgia Business Resources VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HELD – April 16, 2020
Featuring Raphael Bostic, President & CEO for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Ashley D. Bell, Regional Administrator for the SBA.
Our next call is scheduled for Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 3:00PM EST and will feature Mr. Raphael Bostic, President & CEO for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, as well as Ashley D. Bell, Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration. Moderated by Georgia Chamber President and CEO Chris Clark, this forum will highlight the programs and resources available to small and medium-sized businesses while providing key insight for working with local banks to access and leverage these funding sources.
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join. https://zoom.us/j/94428713555
Or join by phone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 646 558 8656 +1 312 626 6799
+1 301 715 8592 +1 346 248 7799 +1 669 900 9128 +1 253 215 8782
Webinar ID: 944 2871 3555
|
| | | Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report
Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report For: 04/02/2020
These data represent confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health as of 04/02/2020 11:28:33.
A confirmed case is defined as a person who has tested positive for 2019 novel coronavirus.
COVID-19 Confirmed Cases: No. Cases (%)
Total 14223 (100%)
Hospitalized 2769 (19.47%)
Deaths 501 (3.52%)
|
| | | Free Live Webinar Leadership During This Crisis:
Proactive Leadership for Employees in a Reactive Mindset |
| We have changed it to a Free Webinar!! Please register for
presented by Pete Tosh
Apr 15, 2020 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT Overview
Today there is a need for a different approach to Leadership. The outbreak & rapid spread of the coronavirus has created havoc not only to our health systems but to the way we work. Overnight many businesses have transitioned millions of employees to work from home. For a great many of those employees, working virtually is a new reality. Additionally, employees are seeing 24/7 pandemic news & their savings being shredded. As leaders & their teams make this sudden shift, it will be a challenge to ease employees’ anxiety, collaborate effectively & function productively
Because of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic leaders are being forced to think, behave & lead in ways that are unfamiliar & uncomfortable. With employees unmoored & a work-life experience that’s ever-shifting, leaders need to exhibit a leadership style that is situationally appropriate. Employees & organizations have different requirements & expectations of their leaders – than they did 30 days ago. And organizations & employees – more than ever - need their leaders to ‘step up.’
Join Georgia Employers’ Association and Pete Tosh as he gives you ten proven crisis leadership approaches
Who Should Attend the Webinar? Any leader, manager, or supervisor who wants to improve his/her crisis leadership skills
Topics Covered: This webinar we will discuss the following ten, proven crisis leadership approaches: Developing & Communicating Your Business Preparedness & Response Plan - to Employees & Customers Recognizing the Increased Importance of ‘The Employee Experience’ Flattening the Employee Anxiety Curve Remaining Calm & Avoiding Knee-Jerk Reactions Establishing Clear Goals & Expectations for a Remote Workforce Leading from Home - by Not Acting Like You are Remote Preventing Employees from Feeling Detached Understanding Your Employees’ Unique, Remote Work Environments Taking Advantage of Virtual Meeting Options Rewarding the Employee Behavior You Want Repeated
Webinar Cost Free
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Brought to you by GoToWebinar® Webinars Made Easy® To learn more about Georgia Employers' Association Leadership and Management Training please visit our website. Go to training>>
|
| |
Today's New Resource Links
Chamber of Commerce / Business Information
Government and CDC Information
- EEOC: What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.
- EEOC has provided resources on its website related to the pandemic in an employment context
- EEOC; TRANSCRIPT OF MARCH 27, 2020 OUTREACH WEBINAR on CORONAVIRUS
- EEOC: What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws
- Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—'What you shouldknow about the ADA, the Rehab Act, and COVID-19’, (Mar. 19, 2020)
|
|
Georgia Employers' Association |
|
|
| |
