On March 12, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill (A3354B) mandating that employers provide their employees with paid time off to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Specifically, employees shall receive “a sufficient period of time, not to exceed four hours” per vaccine dose, and be paid at their regular rate of pay for the entire leave period. For employees receiving the 2-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, they will be eligible for up to eight hours of paid leave.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued guidance to employers in the form of best practice recommendations for protecting employees from COVID-19. Intended only for workplaces outside the healthcare industry, OSHA’s “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace” focuses on the creation of a COVID-19 prevention program which prioritizes employee involvement, communication and training.

In December, Congress convened to discuss the federal government’s 2021 operating budget, resulting in the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) on December 27th. Nestled within its nearly 6,000 pages was a second COVID-19 stimulus package providing approximately $900B in pandemic aid, including a renewal of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that was originally established under the CARES Act last Spring.

Protecting the health and safety of employees is a high priority for most employers. Every year, as flu season approaches, many consider adopting a mandatory vaccine policy to help prevent the spread of the flu in the workplace. And now more than ever, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this issue is top of mind for both employers and employees as the world awaits news of an approved vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While employers may view that future vaccine as the linchpin in their plans to resume pre-COVID workplace protocols, simply mandating it for employees may not be feasible.

The California legislature recently passed SB 1159, significantly expanding the governor’s executive order (N-62-20) of May 6 (“Executive Order”) regarding workers’ compensation and employer liability for COVID-19.

The Executive Order created a rebuttable presumption[1] that any employee diagnosed with COVID-19 from March 19 to July 5, who had visited the workplace at the direction of their employer and received positive results within 14 days of such visit, was presumed to have contracted the disease on the job, and therefore, could file a workers’ compensation claim.

Since our original post, the State of California has released a revised version of the COVID-19 employer playbook, which is now called the “COVID-19 Employer Playbook: Supporting a Safer Environment for Workers and Customers.” According to this updated guidance:

The California Department of Public Health recently released detailed guidance for employers who are trying to understand their obligations during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening is intended to help businesses plan and prepare to reopen safely and mitigate the risks for workers and customers.

Over the past few days, Governor Charlie Baker’s office has released guidance for employers on its phased reopening of the Massachusetts economy.  The plan to reopen includes a carefully planned, four-phase approach which addresses which businesses can open when, and what requirements those businesses must follow in order to resume operations.  Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks or longer, before transitioning to the next phase, though public health trends may require the state, or certain regions, to revert back to previous phases.