Labor & Employment Developments Blog

Nearly a month after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated individuals no longer had to wear masks to combat COVID-19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced its long awaited updated guidance on protecting workers. President Biden issued an executive order in January directing OSHA to pursue a clearer standard for COVID-19. The standard announced today applies only to the health-care industry. A copy of the new rule can be found here on OSHA’s website, with a summary available here.

This week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) released a finalized recordkeeping rule that becomes effective January 1, 2017.  Under the final rule, certain employers are required to electronically submit data regarding work-related injuries and illnesses.  Impacted employers are already required to collect and record this data under OSHA regulations.  However, now, this employer injury and illness data will be public.  Once OSHA removes personal identifying information of employees, the data will be posted on OSHA’s website.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a final rule on September 11, 2014, requiring employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The rule will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.  The rule also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements.