Page 34 - BusinessWest January 10, 2022
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Employer Vaccination Mandates
In September 2021, President Biden signed several orders requiring federal employees, federal contractors, and most healthcare work- ers across the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He also instructed OSHA to develop an emergency temporary standard directing private employers with 100 or more employees to implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates or require weekly testing for their unvaccinated employees. These mandates have been chal- lenged in courts around the county, with varying results. For example, in early December, a federal court in Georgia issued a countrywide stay of the federal-contractor vaccine mandate.
The OSHA ‘shot-or-test’ rule was similarly blocked by one court late last year, but a few weeks later, a different court ruled in favor of the Biden administration and reinstated the emer- gency standard. It appears the U.S. Supreme Court will have to sort all of this out, and we expect they will rule on these issues early in 2022.
Here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, state mandates are in place for employees work- ing in long-term care and assisted living, certain home-care workers, and executive-level state workers (including law enforcement). Legal chal- lenges to the vaccine mandates were filed in Mas- sachusetts courts, but to date all of them have failed.
Accommodations to Vaccination
In October, the Equal Employment Opportu- nity Commission (EEOC) released guidance mak- ing it clear that all employers, regardless of size or industry, can require that employees receive the
COVID vaccine. There is one big caveat: federal and most state laws require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs, disabilities, or pregnancy-related reasons. These are commonly referred to as medical and reli- gious exemptions. Employers that are considering a mandatory vaccination
sachusetts, Washington, and Arizona, are also seeking to unionize.
In addition, employees at an Alabama Ama- zon warehouse recently voted not to unionize, but the union trying to organize those employ- ees alleged that Amazon intentionally interfered
  program should have poli- cies explaining how these exemptions work, as well as exemption forms ready for employees to fill out.
Biden Administration’s Support for Unions
“
campaigns at some of the country’s largest companies have been heating up.”
Unionization
     In June, President
Biden appointed Jennifer Abruzzo as the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) new general counsel. She quickly made clear her (and the new Democratic administration’s) pro-labor stance
on various issues through a series of memoranda issued by her office. Not surprisingly, Abruzzo has vowed to undo much of the NLRB’s activity under former President Trump, which tended to be pro-business.
Unionization campaigns at some of the coun- try’s largest companies have been heating up. Employees at a Starbucks in Buffalo, N.Y. voted
to unionize. Starbucks has agreed to sit down at the table and bargain with the union. This is the first time organized labor has gained a foothold in one of Starbucks’ U.S. locations, but it certainly does not seem like it will be the last. Employees at Starbucks in several other states, including Mas-
with its union-organizing efforts. In one of its biggest actions under President Biden, the NLRB announced that Amazon had committed to allow more room for employees to conduct union activity and to send an e-mail directly to current and former employees to inform them of their labor rights. It is the clearest example to date of how Democratic officials in this administration will seek to use federal power to help employees organize.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
JOHN GANNON
MEAGHAN MURPHY
Starting Jan. 1, 2022, most Connecticut employees will be able to take paid time off to attend to personal
and family health
needs. Under the
 Labor Law
Continued on page 40
Amelia J. Holstrom Named Partner
practice on labor and employment law, including employment
  Wishing Our Clients and
Congratulations to our newest partner, Amelia J. Holstrom. Amelia, a 40 Under Forty honoree and Massachusetts Bar
Friends a Prosperous New Year
Association Community Service Award Recipient, has been with Skoler, Abbott & Presser since 2012. She focuses her
 litigation, personnel policies and practices review, wage and hour compliance, and separation and severance agreements.
One Monarch Place
Amelia, along with her colleagues,
are why employers throughout New England rely on Skoler Abbott for advice handling challenging employment and labor relations matters.
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