On Monday, June 15, 2020, the US Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender, gay and lesbian employees (and prospective employees) from workplace discrimination based on sex. This means that the protective authority of Title VII for LGBTQ individuals generally extends to employer-sponsored healthcare benefits.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/lgbtq-title-vii-ruling-may-impact-your-employee-benefit-plan/
Employers are poised to collect health data from their workforces daily as they adopt temperature checks and other screening protocols to fight the coronavirus, triggering concerns about workers’ privacy and whether the practices will continue beyond the pandemic.
“The temperature checks give employees and customers the feeling of safety and the idea that the company is doing everything possible, even if the screenings don’t protect the workplace,” said Michael Sheehan, a partner with McDermott Will & Emery, in a recent Bloomberg Law article.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/worker-safety-privacy-clash-as-temperature-checks-become-norm/
Under the recently published final rule issued by the US Department of Labor, retirement plan administrators can choose to deliver required disclosures electronically by complying with the conditions of a new safe harbor. The final rule represents an opportunity for retirement plans to save costs and enhance participant access to disclosure documents.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/dol-issues-final-electronic-disclosure-rule-for-retirement-plans/
In the UK, changes in restrictions will see non-essential shops opening and many workers hesitantly going back into offices even though they could work from home. Government focus has therefore started to shift to the “re-opening” of business.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/the-month-of-change-june-ushers-in-the-new-normal-in-the-united-kingdom/
To properly navigate the complexities of COVID-19 employment issues, you need innovative but practical solutions. In response to the challenges that employers now face, McDermott developed a webinar series called the Return to Work Virtual Toolkit for Employers. Learn key takeaways from the fourth webinar in our series that focused on preparing for the opening-day obstacles you are likely to face as you bring your employees back to work.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/preparing-your-responses-how-to-tackle-opening-day-obstacles/
Hospitals, health systems and other tax-exempt organizations are responding to a longer and deeper economic crisis by making or considering significant changes to their executive compensation and executive benefit programs. The economic crisis, and these executive compensation and benefit changes, have far-reaching implications for the ongoing work of the board’s compensation committee. We want to provide this review of what we see happening “on the ground” as the crisis continues.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/reassessing-executive-compensation-and-benefits-in-tax-exempt-organizations-as-the-covid-19-crisis-deepens/
With rapid developments in local, state and federal guidance and law, the appropriate approach for each employer in relation to COVID-19 will vary depending on the nature of their work, the industries served and their location and size, among other considerations. This article outlines what employers need to know about employees experiencing symptoms and employee absences.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/covid-19-faqs-on-employees-experiencing-symptoms-and-employee-absences/
The COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented strain on organizations of all sizes across all industries. The uncertainty of the “new normal” is leading some employers to consider extreme, and often unnecessary, new policies in anticipation of the eventual return to work. To properly navigate the complexities of these novel COVID-19 employment issues, you need innovative but practical solutions.
Learn key takeaways from our third webinar in our Return to Work Virtual Toolkit series that focuses on how to avoid legal landmines as you prepare to bring your employees back to work.
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/preparing-your-workforce-how-to-avoid-legal-landmines-when-bringing-employees-back/
Telehealth is no longer just a nice-to-have, but instead a must-have for patients and healthcare professionals alike during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lisa Mazur, partner at McDermott Will & Emery specializing in the digital healthcare space, is quoted in a recent Forbes article about why telehealth is here to stay: “Telehealth was already experiencing significant momentum and growth prior to this public health emergency, and its continued trajectory has been solidified by the vital role it is playing in care delivery today.”
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/06/five-reasons-why-telehealth-is-here-to-stay-covid-19-and-beyond/
The federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program extends relief to workers and employees who don’t have access to state benefits, but it will almost certainly put pressure on gig economy companies to start paying into state unemployment insurance funds as government resources continue to diminish due to COVID-19, attorneys say.
Michelle S. Strowhiro, partner at McDermott Will & Emery, said, “To the extent that, post-COVID, we want to maintain unemployment benefits for those traditionally not eligible, … we’d have to contemplate a way that additional funding could be accessed for the long term.”
https://www.employeebenefitsblog.com/2020/05/pandemic-unemployment-aid-intensifies-debate-over-classifying-gig-workers-covid/
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