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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

One of the more thought provoking articles I read this week dealt with recent criticism over the alleged lack of action by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in regard to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.  I will let readers scroll through the below article and reach their own conclusion but the opinion piece is worth reading regardless of your position on the matter.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Critics Take Aim At OSHA For Handling of Coronavirus in the Workplace

This week, Dave Jamieson at The Huffington Post wrote an article on which he posited that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) has failed to take adequate steps to protect workers around the country while the coronavirus pandemic plays out.  As readers might be aware, OSHA is charged with assuring safe workplaces and enforcing rules and regulations to achieve that purpose.  However, as Jamieson writes, OSHA has failed to do so for a number of reasons:  1) fines against employers that have allegedly failed to protect their workers from the coronavirus in the workplace have been minimal; 2) there has been only 1 inspection for every 48 complaints made against employers; and 3) OSHA has failed to issue any temporary emergency standards as to the coronavirus.  Will anything change?  It is impossible to say, but there are an increasing number of calls for the agency to act.


Effective October 1st, Hobby Lobby Raises Hourly Pay Rate to $17/Hour

On Monday, Hobby Lobby announced that ahead of the holiday shopping season, it would raise the hourly pay rate for its employees to $17/hour effective October 1st.  This comes on the heels of another big box retailer, Best Buy, hiking its hourly wage rate to $15/hour earlier this year.  Now excuse me while I go put in my application at Hobby Lobby.


New York Federal Judge Strikes Down Significant Portions of Labor Department’s Joint Employer Rule

Last week, U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods issued a ruling in which he struck down a significant portion of the Labor Department’s joint employer rule on the grounds that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act.  The new joint employer rule focuses only on the putative joint employer’s right to control the employee (compared to the prior rule which considered that employee’s economic dependence upon the putative joint employer.)  In the ruling, Judge Woods vacated the portion of the rule applying to “vertical” relationships but let the portion of the rule applying to “horizontal” relationships (situations in which a worker is employed by two “sufficiently associated” businesses) remain in place.  While the 62 page ruling is quite a read, for those looking for an in depth analysis of the matter, it is worth paging through when you have time.


EEOC: Work From Home Accommodation Request From Disabled Employee is NOT Automatic

Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released guidance in which it noted that with the coronavirus subsiding (in some parts of the country), a work from home accommodation request from a disabled employee is not automatic.  Of note, the EEOC did stipulate that whether a work from home accommodation request is reasonable remains a fact specific and case by case determination.

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