Category Archives: Disability & Leave

Subscribe to Disability & Leave RSS Feed

Courts Grapple with Actionable Harm After Muldrow

A prior BeLabor the Point posting discussed the US Supreme Court’s re-calibration of what is considered to be an actionable harm under federal anti-discrimination laws in the 2024 opinion in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis. As a follow up to that article, we conducted a survey of where courts across the country are drawing … Continue Reading

The Day the Universe Changed

Ver la versión en español aquí. Way back in the 1980s, the BBC and PBS broadcasted a documentary TV series with this title, devoted to explaining how critical scientific discoveries and advances in technology fundamentally changed the way we understand the world. A change to the universe of the American workplace happened today at the … Continue Reading

The EEOC Final Rule on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Takes Effect

Ver la versión en español aquí. Starting today, June 18, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will enforce new regulations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). With this in mind, employers should familiarize themselves with the EEOC’s final rule and interpretive guidance to better understand their obligations under the PWFA and how the … Continue Reading

The Moment We’ve All Been Waiting For . . . .

Ver la versión en español aquí The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) goes into effect today!  For those of you who attended Stearns Weaver Miller’s Labor & Employment Law Breakfast Seminar on June 2, 2023, I discussed two new laws that were passed as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 signed by President … Continue Reading

Bet You Didn’t Know What I Learned This Month!

Ver la versión en español aquí. You learn something new every day in the field of employment law. As we close out January 2023, here are five interesting things that I’ve learned this month in no particular order: 1) THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (“EEOC”) IS ON FIREOver the years, there have been a number … Continue Reading

Florida Court Rules Expectant Father Not Entitled to FMLA

Ver la versión en español aquí. Employers are regularly having to grapple with how and when to give their employees leave when their employees are expecting a child.  Unfortunately, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not always provide the clearest answer as to when employers are obligated to provide employees with protected leave.  However, … Continue Reading

Top Takeaways from Our 2022 Annual Labor & Employment Law Seminar

Ver la versión en español aquí. Wow, it has been a whirlwind past few weeks! It was great to see so many of you at our Labor Seminars in Miami, Tampa and Tallahassee. We hope you were able to gain valuable insight into a wide range of topics of interest and importance to you. If … Continue Reading

REGISTER NOW! Annual Labor & Employment Law Seminars

Ver la versión en español aquí. After a two-year hiatus, we are thrilled to be back in person! This year’s theme is “When Really Bad Things Happen to Really Good Employers…” Our annual seminars draw hundreds of human resource professionals, in-house counsel and senior executives from Florida’s top businesses. And for good reason! No one … Continue Reading

Is telework a reasonable accommodation?

Ver la versión en español aquí. I contribute an Employment Law advice column to The Human Resources Association of Broward County newsletter.  A reader recently asked a question that I thought was important and I wanted to share. ASK JANET: If an organization does not allow telework for any of their employees, but an employee … Continue Reading

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE! OSHA’s Vaccinate or Test Rule is Back (at least for now).

On Friday night, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals gave OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID vaccination new life.  As you may remember, OSHA issued an ETS requiring employers with 100 or more employees to adopt a vaccination policy that either made vaccination mandatory, or gave employees a choice between vaccination or weekly testing.  … Continue Reading

Florida’s New Anti-Vaccine Mandate Law

Ver la versión en español aquí On November 18, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1B into law, which creates Fla. Stat. 381.00317 and imposes new limitations on private employers’ ability to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace. The law is effective immediately, and now Florida employers must adapt. Here is what you need … Continue Reading

Stuck In The Middle With You

Ver la versión en español aquí Florida employers face conflicting federal/state legal obligations. It can be tough to keep up. On Thursday of last week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) establishing mandatory vaccination requirements for employers with 100 or more employees. The regulation was published in … Continue Reading

OSHA’s COVID Vaccination Rules – What You Need To Know

Ver la versión en español aquí. We also discussed this in our Labor & Employment client alert here. After much anticipation, OSHA finally issued its rule for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and testing for certain employers. It is referred to as an emergency temporary standard (“ETS”). While the ETS will be challenged in the courts, employers must still prepare now … Continue Reading

Long COVID: How to Manage Its Lingering Effects In The Workplace

Ver la versión en español aquí As millions of Americans continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19, it seems as if there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.  For others who have contracted COVID-19, however, they are not as fortunate.  Some of these folks face a more harrowing journey because their symptoms … Continue Reading

President Biden: Mandatory vaccines or weekly testing, or bust!

You heard the following directive yesterday from President Biden: Private employers with 100 or more employees must ensure their workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 or require unvaccinated employees to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. Everyone should take a deep breath. Nothing is required at this … Continue Reading

Top Takeaways from “Breaking Through the Noise: Labor & Employment Issues Post-Pandemic”

Thank you to our clients and friends who have watched ”Breaking Through the Noise: Labor & Employment Issues Post-Pandemic” so far! We hope you enjoyed it and were provided with timely, relevant and valuable insight. If you have not tuned in yet, the program is available on demand to watch at your leisure. CLICK HERE TO WATCH! Below … Continue Reading

Ready to watch? Breaking Through The Noise AVAILABLE NOW!

IT’S SHOW TIME!   Breaking Through the Noise, our much anticipated 2.5 hour “TV News” program addressing employment issues that you will need to know about in a post-pandemic business environment, is available NOW. CLICK TO WATCH! Block off some time on your calendar now through Sunday, June 20th at 11:59pm ET to enjoy the program!  … Continue Reading

SAVE THE DATES – Breaking Through The Noise: Labor & Employment Issues Post-Pandemic

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!   We are excited to announce the air date for Breaking through the Noise, our much anticipated 2.5 hour “TV News” program addressing employment issues that you will need to know about in a post-pandemic business environment. The program will be available to view on our website at your leisure from Wednesday, June … Continue Reading

Coming Soon in June to a Screen Near You!

For the last 30 years, we have put on a live, all-day conference attended by hundreds of our clients and friends across Florida.  Unfortunately, due to COVID, the seminar was cancelled again this year.  As we know almost everyone is Zoom-ed and webinar-ed out, we thought we’d do something different this year – a two-hour … Continue Reading

Florida Provides Sweeping Pandemic Liability Protection for Businesses

Ver la versión en español aquí During this pandemic, Florida businesses are caught between a rock and hard place.  If they open too soon, they risk lawsuits from customers claiming they acquired COVID-19 at their business.  If they remain closed or operate at limited capacity, they face the possibility of going out of business.  Fortunately, … Continue Reading

ADA Remote Work as a Reasonable Accommodation – It’s Time to Dust Off Those Interactive Process Hats!

Ver la versión en español aquí Until recently, having a pre-existing medical condition bumped you to the front of the line for eligibility to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Florida. But as of yesterday, April 5, all Floridians age 18 and older are now eligible to receive a vaccine. As a result, I suspect in … Continue Reading

The 2021 Florida Legislative Session – The Graveyard for Employment-Related Proposals?

Ver la versión en español aquí Each year Florida legislators meet for just 60 days to propose and pass new laws. The Legislature is now in session through the end of April 2021.  A number of employment-related bills have already been introduced – many are first proposed to lay the groundwork for possible passage years … Continue Reading

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: We Hardly Knew Ye!

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) became federal law on April 1, 2020. (For a detailed discussion on FFCRA coverage see our blog post dated March 20, 2020). The FFCRA was the first federal legislation mandating nationwide paid leave for employees. Unlike many other federal employment laws, the FFCRA contained a “use by” date … Continue Reading

All I Want for the Holidays is a COVID-19 Vaccine!

Ver la versión en español aquí Finally, there is a light at the end of this tunnel.  COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use and are currently being shipped nationwide. COVID-19 vaccinations are a polarizing topic.  Well-regarded medical professionals report that the vaccines are between 94-95% effective, have minimal side effects (which do not include … Continue Reading
LexBlog