Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“Cal/OSHA”) voted on November 19 to implement a stringent new standard for employers to follow when implementing COVID-19 protections in the state.

The state’s rulemaking agency for workplace safety voted unanimously (6 to 0) to pass the “Emergency COVID-19 Prevention Regulations” (the “Standard”), which is expected to go into effect within 10 days (assuming the State’s Office of Administrative Law adopts Cal/OSHA’s regulation).

On November 17, 2020 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released proposed updates to its Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination (“Manual”). The draft revisions are available for public input until December 17, 2020, after which the EEOC will consider the public’s input, make any changes, and publish the finalized Manual.

HuntonAK Labor and Employment Partners Amber Rogers, Holly Williamson and Scott Nelson have been recognized in the most recent publication of Texas Super Lawyers 2020.

HuntonAK Labor and Employment Partner Chris Pardo was recognized as a Rising Star by Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2020.

• Amber Rogers, Dallas, Employment and Labor
• Holly Williamson, Houston, Employment Litigation
• Scott Nelson, Houston, Employment Litigation
• Chris Pardo, Boston, Employment Litigation, Rising Star

Super Lawyers acknowledges outstanding practice group lawyers “who have attained a ...

Imagine this: you are an employer in California, and you recently hired a new employee.  You ran your own background check, which did not turn up any criminal convictions.  However, the employee’s job duties include submitting online applications to a government agency, which requires the employee to complete a Live Scan background check with the Department of Justice.  The Live Scan reveals that the employee has a past criminal conviction that will prevent her from submitting the applications.  You terminate the employee, and she tells you the conviction was judicially dismissed.  What do you do?

California has enacted a number of new laws (some of these have been covered in more detail on this blog and are linked below). The following are the most significant changes that California employers can expect as we move into the new year:

As we previously reported, COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way representation elections are conducted.  From March 1 to November 16, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board issued 167 election decisions and, of those, only 2 manual elections have been directed to proceed in that time-frame.  This is a marked change in the Board’s longstanding preference for manual elections.  The overwhelming trend towards mail-in elections was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 in California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 685.  In short, AB 685 imposes uniform notice requirements on California employers dealing with a potential COVID-19 exposure or outbreak, requires employers to maintain records of COVID-19 notices, and empowers the Division of Occupational Health and Safety (“Cal OSHA”) to close down worksites where the risk of exposure to COVID-19 constitutes an imminent hazard to employees.

HuntonAK Labor and Employment partners Emily Burkhardt Vicente and Roland Juarez have been nominated by the Los Angeles Business Journal as 2020 Leaders in Law. The LABJ recognizes legal leaders and their accomplishments within their organizations and communities.

Earlier this year Emily was named among 2020 Women Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal, Roland was previously listed among the 2020 Top Labor and Employment Lawyers by the Daily Journal, and both were listed as Labor and Employment Stars by Benchmark Litigation.

Emily and Roland will be featured in the ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regularly releases guidance and advice to employers to aid in compliance with applicable workplace discrimination laws. For example, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EEOC has frequently issued and updated guidance on how employers can strike the difficult balance between workplace safety and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.