Health & Safety

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By Adam R. Young, Robert T. Szyba, Robert S. Whitman, and  Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: The New York Department of Labor published “Frequently Asked Questions” which address occupational cannabis issues under the adult-use cannabis and the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).

New York State has legalized medical and recreational marijuana, and…
Continue Reading New York Department of Labor Attempts to Prohibit Drug Testing for Cannabis, Employment Actions Against Some Employees Who are Impaired at Work

By Scott Hecker, Elisabeth Watson, and Karla Grossenbacher

Seyfarth Synopsis: Your dedicated Seyfarth Team has created a checklist to help covered employers achieve compliance with the OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) in timely fashion.

Pending legal challenges have called into question the viability of ETS, published in the Federal Register on November 5,…
Continue Reading What Must Employers Do to Comply with OSHA’s ETS? Check out our Checklist for Answers

By Adam R. Young, Melissa A. Ortega, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 28, 2021, an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act passed the Illinois General Assembly and made its way to Governor Pritzker’s desk. The amendment creates a COVID-19 carve-out, but it will not go into effect until June 1, …
Continue Reading A Swing and a Miss: Right to Conscience Objections to COVID-19 Vaccinations to Endure Until June 2022

Seyfarth Synopsis: The deadline for employers to distribute their airborne disease prevention safety plan and post the plan in the workplace is approaching. 

As previously reported, the New York Department of Labor has published general and industry-specific model disease prevention protocols under the New York HERO Act. Employers were required to

…
Continue Reading NY HERO Act Update: Deadline to Distribute and Post Safety Plan Days Away

By James L. Curtis, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Labelling the Delta-variant surge as the “Pandemic of the Unvaccinated,” on August 26, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Prtizker announced that Illinois residents must wear masks indoors, and that school and health care staff must be vaccinated.

Cook County and the City of Chicago both had…
Continue Reading Illinois Governor Announces Mask Mandate for All Indoor Settings, Regardless of Vaccination

By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, II. Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Today the FDA approved Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA), previously known as Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 …
Continue Reading FDA Grants Full Approval to the Pfizer Vaccine

By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, II. Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Today OSHA updated its Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread …
Continue Reading OSHA Issues Updated Protecting Workers Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace

By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, II. Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: President Biden recently laid out his administration’s next steps in efforts to get …
Continue Reading President Biden to Require Federal Workers, Contractors to Provide Vaccine Attestation or Mask, Distance, and Test Multiple Times Per Week

By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, II. Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Daniel R. Birnbaum, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 27, 2021, the CDC revised its mask guidance in response to …
Continue Reading Time to Mask Up Again? CDC Revises Mask Guidance for Vaccinated Individuals

By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Adam R. Young, Daniel R. Birnbaum, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 28, 2021, OSHA published a Compliance Directive, DIR 2021-02 (CPL 02), covering inspection procedures and enforcement policies for the Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19. The new directive sheds light on OSHA’s thought process …
Continue Reading OSHA Adopts Directive for Inspection Procedures and Enforcement Policies for COVID-19 ETS, Shedding Light on Enforcement Priorities Related to Medical Removal Pay Provisions