The Workplace Report with Ancel Glink

Though a COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been introduced, the looming question exists: can an employer require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19? Unsurprisingly, the answer is, “it depends.” EEOC guidance treats a future COVID-19 vaccine in the same approach as existing vaccines , meaning an employer may mandate a vaccine in the workplace but an employee remains entitled to an exemption under certain circumstances. An employer may request an exemption based on an ADA disability that prevents him from taking the vaccine. If an exemption is requested, an employer must grant a reasonable accommodation unless it would result in undue hardship to the employer. The ADA defines “undue hardship” as “significant difficulty or expense” incurred by the employer in providing said accommodation.  An employee is also entitled to an exemption if the vaccine would violate his “sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Onc...

The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) mandates employers with 500 or fewer employees to provide paid sick leave to their full and part-time employees. Full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid sick leave, and part-time employees are entitled to the average number of hours they work over a two-week period. Employees may take EPSLA leave for any of the following reasons: To comply with a federal, state, or local quarantine isolation order related to COVID-19; To self-quarantine because the employee has been advised by a healthcare professional to do so due to concerns related to COVID-19; The employee is experiencing symptoms of Coronavirus and is seeking a medical diagnosis; To care for an individual who is self-isolating to comply with a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19 or who has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19; To care for the employee’s son or daughter if his/her ...

The Department of Transportation recently announced that it will not penalize employers who are unable to complete random drug testing of their employees with CDLs because of COVID-19. As we have discussed , employers must drug test employees with CDLs upon their hiring, after an accident, and randomly. These random drug tests must be spaced throughout the year. If an employee tests positive for cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, phencyclidine, or cannabis (this is still true even though cannabis is legal in Illinois), then the employer cannot allow the employee to continue to operate the vehicle requiring the CDL. The DOT’s announcement states that if an employer is unable to conduct the number of random drug tests required by law or cannot conduct them for a period of time due to COVID-19, the Department will not penalize the employer. The employer just needs to document the reasons it was unable to comply. The DOT provides examples of some reasons, like lack of available testing facil...

One workplace phenomenon during the pandemic is that employees have been using less than normal vacation time. It’s likely the result of a number of factors such as increased demand on some workers during this time, fear of losing their job (thus, “saving” their vacation time for payout), an unwillingness to travel (and a lack of open vacation destinations) as well as the relative ease of teleworking. Whatever the reason, employers are wise to address this emerging issue well before year's end where one of two things will likely happen: employees will all clamor to take their vacation time or want a payout of this unused time because they were “unable” to use it. If a flood of employees all request vacation time near the end of the year, employers will face operational issues and may need to deny some of those requests. In addition to facing operational issues, employers who have “use it or lose it” vacation time policies and have or will deny the use of vacation time by w...

Earlier this week, the Department of Labor issued additional guidance for workers and employers discussing how the protections and requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) impact returning to work. The FFCRA was enacted at the end of March to provide emergency paid sick leave and family leave for certain workers affected by COVID-19. See below for some highlights from the new Department of Labor guidance: If an employee was eligible for extended FMLA leave and used a portion of it prior to being furloughed, they are entitled to their remaining leave upon their return to work. The period of time an employee was on furlough does not count against their FFCRA/FMLA leave entitlement. An employee returning to work after caring for a family member diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19 is entitled to their same or an equivalent position. However, employers may bring an employee back to work in a position that requires less face-to-face interaction with others. Emp...

Seems like pandemic issues hit employers and workers in waves. Deciphering and implementing FFCRA benefits, worksite closings, furloughs, layoffs, and protecting essential workers were the start. Then as workplaces slowly reopened, employers and workers alike faced the challenges of protecting employees and the public. The current wave on the rise is employers’ concerns surrounding the new school year. School reopening decisions obviously impact employees with school-age children. In turn, school reopening decisions impact employers. It’s not too early to start planning for workplace needs when schools reopen, partially reopen, or don’t reopen in the Fall. Some important considerations include the following: Employees who have not yet exhausted their expanded FMLA leave benefit under the FFCRA may take advantage of that opportunity when the school year starts if their child’s school district has partial or only online learning. This may result in operational disruptions. ...

The Department of Labor recently issued a revised Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness application. You can find that application by clicking here . Instructions on completing the application are here . The PPP loan application is available here . The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was part of the CARES Act and provided low-interest loans to businesses who suffered due to the Coronavirus lockdowns. PPP loan recipients do not have to pay back eight weeks of payroll expenses, rent or mortgage payments, mortgage interest payments, and utility payments as long as they retained 90% of their employees for eight weeks and devoted at least 75% of the loan funds to payroll expenses. Eight weeks have passed since many employers received PPP loans, which means that those employers can begin applying for loan forgiveness. To complete the loan forgiveness application, employers need to provide their: PPP loan number Loan amount Loan disbursement date Number of employees at the time of th...

On June 26, the Department of Labor issued guidance stating that employees can take leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) if their child’s summer camp closed as a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis (for more details on the FFCRA, click here  for our March 2020 post). The FFCRA requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide those employees with up to 12 weeks of 2/3 paid leave if their children’s school or daycare closes due to COVID-19. The DOL guidance includes summer camps in the category of places whose closure entitles an employee to paid leave under the FFCRA. Employees who request FFCRA leave because their children’s summer camps have closed must provide their employer with the following information: Why they need to take FFCRA leave; The child’s name, his or her summer camp, and a statement that there is no one else suitable to take care of the child;  The employee planned on enrolling the child int...

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that two teachers at religious schools could not pursue claims of age and disability discrimination in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru . This decision relied heavily on the ministerial exception to anti-discrimination laws. The ministerial exception is rooted in the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses, and disallows legal claims against religious schools by their employees who carry out religious functions. The ministerial exception is intended to protect churches from government influence, but the line deciding who is considered a “minister” is not always clear. In this case, the Supreme Court applied the ministerial exception to two teacher-employees who carried out important religious functions, but were not otherwise considered “ministers.” The teachers taught religion in their classrooms, prayed and worshipped with their students, and had their performance measured on religious bases. Educating young peo...

Normally, an employee’s off-duty travel, or the travelers that they host in their home, are rarely the concern of an employer. These are just not normal times. As more employees return to the workplace, employers continue to evaluate how to keep them safe by reducing the possible exposure and spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Without national uniformity on face coverings and businesses reopening, which many attribute to spikes in COVID-19 cases in some states, employers must be increasingly aware of not only what employees do in the workplace, but where they have been and who they have been with outside of work. Many employers are implementing travel policies which evaluate employee travel on a case by case basis and determine whether an employee’s travel or hosting of travelers increases the risk of exposure to the coronavirus to an unacceptable level. The analysis looks at where the employee traveled to or from where they hosted travelers, the mode of travel (air, bus p...

While most people mark July 4 on their calendars, employers know that July 1 is also a day worth remembering because of the new laws that will impact their workplaces. Here are some of the new laws taking effect this July 1 that employers should take note of: Minimum Wage Increase Illinois’s second minimum wage increase of 2020 took effect on July 1. The minimum wage increased to $10/hr from $9.25/hr. The next minimum wage increase will take place on January 1, 2021, with wages increasing to $11/hr. The minimum wage will continue to increase $1/hr each January 1 thereafter until 2025, when it reaches $15/hr. Chicago plans to reach its $15/hour goal by 2021 , and as such, has accordingly raised its minimum wage to $14/hour from $13/hour on July 1. The minimum wage in suburban Cook County also increased to $13/hour on July 1 . Definition of “Employer” On July 1 the definition of “employer” in the Illinois Human Rights Act was changed to mean anyone employing one or mo...