Feb 8, 2021
by Kristine Nazir On January 25, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation reinstating COVID-19 travel restrictions. The Proclamation bars the entry of non-US citizens who were physically present within the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, and 26 countries in Europe, called the Schengen Area, during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. The Proclamation provides exemptions for family members of U.S. citizens, those traveling with nonimmigrant visas, and individuals invited by the
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Feb 1, 2021
by Christine Self In our recent Insight, EEOC Updates its COVID-19 Guidance to Address Vaccines, Tueth Keeney discussed the grant of FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for two COVID-19 vaccines. Our guidance indicated that employers could encourage their employees to take the COVID vaccines without running afoul of the ADA, Rehabilitation Act and other EEO requirements, if they ensure that any mandate (post-EUA period) provides exemptions for sincerely held religious beliefs and employees with disabilities. Of
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Jan 8, 2021
by Kristine Nazir The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced its final rule altering the existing H-1B Cap selection process. The final rule will replace the current random selection process with a new salary-based ranking system.
- In lieu of a random lottery, USCIS would rank the cap registrations based on prevailing wage levels, first selecting registrations that meet highest prevailing wages and proceeding in descending order.
- It will be implemented for both the H-1B regular cap and the
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Jan 7, 2021
by Christine Self As schools and other employers continue or transition back to remote school and teleworking with the latest spikes in COVID-19 cases, employers must consider several employment issues about employee rights under those conditions. There are many considerations for employers as they request or require their employees to telework or when employees request to do so, including the requirement to reimburse employees for all “necessary expenditures or losses” incurred in the employees’ scope of employment, as outlined in
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Jan 6, 2021
by John Reynolds This is a reminder for our St. Louis City private employers that St. Louis City Ordinance 71074, which prohibits St. Louis City employers from basing job hiring or promotion decisions on applicant’s criminal histories, recently went into effect on January 1, 2021. Similar ordinances are already in place in Columbia and Kansas City, Missouri. In order to help employers ensure compliance, below is a summary of key components of the Ordinance:
Jan 5, 2021
by Kristine Nazir On December 31, 2020, President Trump extended Proclamation 10052 until March 31, 2021. Proclamation 10052 suspended the entry of certain H-1B, L-1, and J-1 visa holders into the United States in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, it is unknown if President-elect Biden will rescind the Proclamation when he takes office. Due to the current uncertainties associated with international travel and the impact of COVID-19, we generally recommend against traveling abroad, if such travel can
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Dec 21, 2020
by Kylie S. Piatt and Christine Self As the new COVID-19 vaccines have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and are beginning to be administered across the country, employers are wondering whether they can require employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to return to or remain at work. On December 16, 2020, the EEOC updated its rolling COVID-19 guidance to include provisions related to vaccinations and employees. The full guidance can be found in the EEOC publication,
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Dec 17, 2020
by Jim Layton On a 3-2 party-line vote, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently proposed a substantial revision of Section 12: Religious Discrimination in the EEOC Compliance Manual. The Manual provides comprehensive guidance to EEOC investigators, employers, and employees with regard to EEOC enforcement of the Civil Rights Laws. The current version of the Manual notes that the number of religious discrimination claims filed with the EEOC has “increased significantly” – from 1,709 claims in 1997 to 2,880 claims in
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Dec 10, 2020
by Christine Self Tueth Keeney provided an Insight on Tier 3 Mitigations imposed statewide starting November 20, 2020 by Governor J.B. Pritzker (linked here). While the ISBE initially opined that Tier 3 Mitigation Measures applied to school board meetings, it later reconsidered and on November 24, the ISBE updated its Tier 3 Resurgence Mitigations FAQ (linked here). ISBE states in those FAQs that the Tier 3 Resurgence Mitigation measures do not apply
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Dec 7, 2020
As recently reported in our firm insight, on December 1, 2020, a federal judge struck down certain policies proposed by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and Department of Homeland Security affecting the H-1B visa program, including changes to the H-1B visa program’s required wage system. In some instances, the new policies resulted in a more than 50% increase in the wages required for certain H-1B positions. In response to this court ruling, however, the DOL has
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Diane E. Metzger
Melanie Gurley Keeney
John M. Reynolds
Kylie S. Piatt
James R. Layton