President Biden Announces New COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates

by Mollie Mohan, Kate Nash, Lisa Berns, and Christine Self On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a sweeping new plan to increase the country’s COVID-19 vaccination rate. A summary of the plan, and its implications for Missouri and Illinois employers, is below. OSHA Rule Mandating Vaccines for Employers with Over 100 Employees President Biden announced that the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will apply to employers with 100 or

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Weighing Conviction History in Illinois Employment Decisions

by Christine Self Amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”) that took effect March 23, 2021, make it a civil rights violation for an employer to use an individual’s conviction record “as a basis to refuse to hire, to segregate, or to act with respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure or terms, privileges or conditions of employment unless:  (1) there is a substantial relationship between one or more of

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Missouri Governor Signs COVID-19 Liability Bill

by Jenna Lakamp On July 7, 2021, Missouri’s Governor Parson signed into law a bill limiting civil lawsuits that can be brought against Missouri business, religious organizations, and health care providers.  SB51 was passed by the Legislature on May 25, 2021, with support from Governor Parson. The law states that no individual or entity will be liable for any COVID-19 exposure, unless the individual can prove they were exposed and suffered illness by “clear and convincing evidence.”   In order to

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EEOC Updates and Expands Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccines

by Mandi Moutray On May 28, 2021, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (“EEOC”) updated and expanded its guidance regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and specifically addressed questions relating to COVID-19 vaccinations. The full guidance can be found in the EEOC publication,  What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws. The updated guidance confirms that federal EEO laws do not prohibit employers from mandating vaccination for all employees physically entering the

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OSHA Requires Reporting Adverse Vaccine Reactions

by Christine Self As COVID-19 vaccines become wore widely available and workplaces return to more in-person, pre-pandemic environments, numerous questions have arisen about employer requirements related to vaccines. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recently addressed one issue, whether employers must record/report adverse COVID-19 vaccine reactions, through FAQs it released on April 20, 2021. Generally, employers are required to record “reportable injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace” on the OSHA 300 log and many employers questioned whether

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Department of Labor Proposes Withdrawal of Independent Contractor and Joint Employment Rules

by Aigner Carr As discussed in our prior insight, the Department of Labor (DOL) continues to revise its independent contractor and joint employment rules. As anticipated, the DOL announced on March 11, 2021 a proposal to rescind the Independent Contractor final rule. The final rule was published in January 2021, with an expected effective date of March 8, 2021. However, the Biden administration issued a regulatory freeze on recently adopted laws, including the previous administration’s Independent Contractor

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EEOC Adopts Amended Guidance Regarding Religious Discrimination, Adding Substantially to its Policy Regarding Accommodating Religious Practice

by Jim Layton We previously noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed a substantial revision of Section 12: Religious Discrimination in the EEOC Compliance Manual (“Religious Discrimination Manual”). On January 15, 2021, the EEOC adopted a slightly revised version of the proposed Manual””again, in a 3-2 vote. The final version is available here. The “major comments” made on the proposed revision are summarized in an addendum included with that final version. The new Religious

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Missouri Supreme Court Updates Civil Discovery Rules

by Veronica Potter On March 2, 2021, the Missouri Supreme Court released an order (Order) amending the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules) to enact new discovery provisions. The Missouri legislature previously passed a law in 2019 that amended the discovery Rules in order to bring them more in line with the Federal Rules. Senate Bill 224 (SB 224) was signed by Governor Parsons on July 10, 2019 and took effect on August 28,

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Worker Classification Rules in Flux: What Missouri Employers Should Know

by Aigner Carr and Adam Henningsen Employers often struggle with applying various tests to classify workers as employees and independent contractors.  Properly classifying workers is important for a myriad of reasons.   Only employees are entitled to the benefits and protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), including minimum wage and overtime requirements.  Independent contractors lack such protections and benefits.   Misclassifying workers can expose an employer to significant liability under federal and state wage and hour laws, anti-discrimination

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