Good evening, welcome to this late and special holiday edition of my Monday Morning Briefing.  Our office was closed today for the Martin Luther King holiday, but I did still want to send out a Briefing this week, so forgive the lateness of this week’s edition.

SCOTUS Scrubs The OSHA ETS/Federal Vaccine-or-Test Mandate

Well, I think most of you know by now that last week, the United State Supreme Court finally put a pin in OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) vaccine-or-test mandate for private employers with 100 or more employees.   However, it did leave in place the mandate governing the healthcare industry, the latter which is governed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  

I know that most of you have heard the news about this ruling by now.  However, I did want to clarify a few things that have left many employers still confused.   First, the United States Supreme Court ruling that the federal ETS was unlawful has no bearing on existing state or local laws.  Indeed, the Supreme Court specifically held that this type of mandate was better served by state and local governments.  This ruling had nothing to do with the validity of vaccine mandates in general, which, indeed, SCOTUS has upheld when given the opportunity.  The ruling about the ETS was founded specifically on OSHA’s ability, as an agency, to make such a broad a wide-reaching mandate, nationwide, to private employers of all industries. 

Along the same lines, this ruling has no impact on the ability of private employers themselves to implement their own vaccine mandates, which they are still free to do, so long as they do so protecting the rights of those who need religious and medical accommodations and abiding by all other state and federal laws.   We have helped many of our clients implement policies such as this, and if you are considering doing so, feel free to contact me. 

LA County Rules on Masks Went Into Effect Today – January 17

Just a reminder that as of today, employers in Los Angeles county must provide and require surgical style face coverings, as in N95 masks, for all employees who deal with the public or regularly come into contact with other employees.   Most of my clients have told me they are good with getting masks, but if you need help, let me know. 

Isolation and Quarantine Protocols – Whoops, They Did It Again

I don’t even know what to tell you all anymore.  But yes, once again, both Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) AND California Department of Public Health (CDPH) have “tweaked” their protocols, for the third time in I don’t even know how many days.  It does appear now that both LA County and the State public health departments are on the same page, for now, on this issue of quarantines. But look out, because if you blink, these guidelines will change.

As of now, there are actually THREE categories of employees: (1) the fully vaccinated now defined to include boosters, if eligible; (2) employees who are vaccinated but not yet boosted, and (c) unvaccinated employees.   Fully vaccinated employees, if exposed to COVID in the workplace and asymptomatic, still do not have to quarantine but “should” test on day five.  This “middle” group of vaccinated but not fully boosted employees can still come to work if not symptomatic, but must wear a fitted mask (required in LA as we know), and must test between days three and five.  The unvaccinated group must quarantine for the full duration. 

I know, those are very nuanced differences, and I am not even sure I understand them all.  And honestly, they could change again by next week.  If you get a workplace exposure, I highly recommend you check to see where the protocols are at the time, because I cannot guarantee these protocols are not going to change again.   And feel free to call so we can walk through it together.  That’s what we do. 

That is more than enough for this week.  Next week, we are going to discuss “regular rate,” since we did not have time to get to this fun topic on the webinar and I’m getting tired of COVID issues.  So bring extra pencils and erasers, class. 

Stay safe this week; the jungle is getting worse.