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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

With vaccine mandates becoming a somewhat hot button issue lately, I think it is appropriate to look at the topic under the lens of employment law.  While the situation is rapidly changing (almost daily), this is a good article to lead things off today.

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


Biden Administration Reportedly Examining Whether Employers Can Mandate Vaccines

I think the headline article here says it all:  The President Joe Biden administration is reportedly looking at whether employers (and businesses) can mandate the coronavirus vaccine.  As this article from Reuters notes, several employers, such as United Airlines, Microsoft, and Tyson Foods, have recently announced that they are requiring vaccines for their employees.  In fact, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh commented that mandatory vaccines are something that is being examined, although there does not appear to be a clear cut answer on the legality/effectiveness of requiring vaccinations.  (Although a word to the wise for readers, the EEOC had previously stated that mandatory vaccines can be a lawful condition of employment.  In fact, one court in Texas has already thrown out a case by former employees that challenged such a policy.)


Wages Rise In Second Quarter for Public and Private Employees

A recent report notes that wages rose again in the second quarter including 3.5% for private sector workers.  However, while this is good news, public sector workers saw only a .7% increase in comparison.  With that being said, these are still relatively strong increases across the board notwithstanding a somewhat turbulent market (stock and labor markets, that is).


Jersey City Mayor Raising Hourly Wage Rate to $17 For Municipal Employees

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop announced last week that municipal employees in the city would see their wage rates rise from $15/hour to $17/hour.  The $2/hour pay raise, set to take effect on August 23rd, will impact nearly 400 workers.  Curiously, while the increased labor costs will result in an additional $800k to Jersey City, there has been no announcement on how it will be funded.  If I were a betting man, I would expect some sort of tax increase (either on employers, property, sales, or some other measure) to help fund things.  However with an August 23rd date for when this takes effect...the clock is ticking.

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