Page 23 - Healthcare News Jan/Feb 2022

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 23
HEALTHCARE LAW
Labor & Employment Law Update
What Can Business Owners and Managers Expect in 2022?
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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
Starting Jan. 1, 2022, most Connecticut employees will be able to take paid time off to attend to personal and fam- ily health needs. Under the program, employees are entitled to 12 weeks of paid-leave benefits, and up to 14 weeks if an employee experiences a serious health condition that oc- curs during a pregnancy.
This program is similar to the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which went live at
the beginning of last year. The Department of Family and Medical Leave published data stating that the department approved 43,440 applications between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2021. Benefits totaling $167,915,781 were paid out during this time. This was before employees could take PFML to care for family members, which became available on July 1.
Employee Mobility: Tackling the Labor Shortage
A record 4.4. million Americans quit their jobs in Sep- tember 2021. The high quit rates were commonly dubbed the ‘Great Resignation,’ and made it clear that Americans are switching jobs for better pay, starting their own busi- nesses, or continuing to struggle with child care and school schedules.
As the pandemic lingers, it’s likely that the quit rates
will remain high for the next several months. As a result, employers will need to raise wages and/or offer more lucra- tive benefit packages to attract and retain talent. Businesses should also consider offering employees who do not physi- cally need to be in the office every day some sort of a hybrid work-from-home schedule, a model that has dramatically increased in popularity over the last year. v
John Gannon and Meaghan Murphy are attorneys at the firm Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., in Spring- field; (413) 737-4753; jgannon@skoler-abbott.com; mmurphy@skoler-abbott.com
ast year, we saw legislators and employers trying
to pivot from COVID-19 safety measures to more traditional labor and employment-law issues. How-
ever, with the Delta and Omicron variants wreaking havoc across the globe, businesses and lawmakers are once again looking for ways to stop the spread of the pandemic. Here are some labor and employment highlights from 2021 that are sure to impact employers in 2022.
Employer Vaccination Mandates
In September 2021, President Biden signed several orders requiring federal employees, federal contractors, and most healthcare workers across the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He also instructed OSHA
to develop an emergency temporary standard directing pri- vate employers with 100 or more employees to implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates or require weekly testing
for their unvaccinated employees. These mandates have been challenged 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 rein- stated the emergency 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 working in long-term care and assisted living, certain home-care workers, and executive-level state workers (including law enforcement). Legal challenges 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 Opportunity Com- mission (EEOC) released guidance making 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,
JOHN GANNON
MEAGHAN MURPHY
disabilities, or pregnancy-related reasons. These are com- monly referred to as medical and religious exemptions. Employers that are considering a mandatory vaccination program should have policies explaining how these exemp- tions work, as well as exemption forms ready for employees to fill out.
Biden Administration’s Support for Unions
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 country’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 Massachusetts, Washington, and Arizona, are also seeking to unionize.
In addition, employees at an Alabama Amazon ware- house recently voted not to unionize, but the union trying to organize those employees alleged that Amazon inten- tionally interfered with its union-organizing efforts. In one of its biggest actions under President Biden, the NLRB an- nounced that Amazon had committed to allow more room
HomeCare Hands Introduces Fast-Trak Education/Training Division
SPRINGFIELD — HomeCare Hands 24/7 announced the opening of its HCH EDU at 135 State St., Suite 203, Springfield in order to provide its new Fast-Trak Educa- tion and Training program to its current caregivers, future caregivers, and local businesses.
This program will be infusing current caregivers with additional training to improve the quality of care to private clients and business partners. It will also be able to provide education and training to individuals looking to
make caregiving a rewarding, lifelong career path. HomeCare Hands 24/7 has recognized a gap within
the home-care industry and will be offering educational services for businesses that can utilize the training as well.
Registered nurse and certified Nurse Educator Nancy Parks-Mleczko will be overseeing and directing training sessions, along with other qualified staff. The curriculum will include certifications and certificates of completion, visual media, and testing. For the hands-on experience,
the company will utilize brand-new, state-of-the-art medical equipment. HCH EDU seeks to ease the acuity of caregiver shortages and lessen the high turnover rate due to lack of proper education by streamlining the process with a savings of time and money.
For more information, e-mail Angie Thornton, Mar- keting director for HomeCare Hands 24/7, at angie@ homecarehands24.com.