Rojgar Job News

For those that have seen the trends in France, Spain, Italy and more, it seems clear that we’re about to enter a new phase of this coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic here in Connecticut: Lockdown. As businesses can and must plan their workplaces for worst-case scenarios, it’s important to first understand that the term lockdown isn’t entirely accurate. There IS still business going on, just in far more limited quantities. So, for perspective and for businesses trying to plan for their employees, here are some things Italy (and other nations) have implemented that could be in the cards here.  Given the speed at which this pandemic is moving, it’s not unrealistic to think this may happen this week. What is impacted? All stores except groceries and pharmacies are to be closed. (One could see “groceries” to include some big box stores like Target or Wal-Mart that double as groceries.) All workplaces that are recreational or leisure in nature (what some ...

Fun fact: There was no class on pandemics in law school. Sure, we briefly joked about the power that Governors and Presidents COULD exert in case of an emergency but it was mostly in the context of nuclear war and talking about how a Secretary of Commerce could become President (yes, this was way before Designated Survivor). And yet this week, my fellow lawyers and I have been fielding calls that would’ve seemed absolutely crazy a few weeks ago. The weird thing is that I’ve been driving a few of my friends, family and colleagues a little crazy with my predictions for over a month that we were headed here. I got designated a COVID-19 “expert” (no certificate required!) early on and frankly, I think they were humoring me. How DO you practice law in a pandemic? In answering that I’m reminded of a joke about how you tell the difference between a male and female bear? Very carefully. Over the course of this week in particular, I’ve had several conference c...

Wednesday felt like a breaking point. The day when COVID-19 seemed to come out from under your office desk and said “You’re surrounded. Go home.” NBA – Suspending its season indefinitely. Schools in Fairfield County – Closed with the likelihood that more schools will follow soon. Tom Hanks – Another COVID-19 victim. Of course, this isn’t impacting everywhere at the same time. But it seems that several businesses are starting to contemplate severe restrictions in their workplace.  (Update: Thursday morning, Governor Lamont recommended that all businesses try to have employees work from home ASAP.)   Sure, many businesses will stay open or try to; we’ll need markets, pharmacies and utilities just to name a few.  But those businesses that can try to minimize their workplace interactions, probably will — or at least try to move to a remote-only workplace. Even the courts are now getting into the act by showing how the viru...

A few weeks ago, I talked about the impact that a public health emergency might have on employers and the statute addressing such emergencies. Today, Governor Ned Lamont invoked those provisions in declaring a public health emergency. But in doing so, he also invoked another provision, Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 28-9 –– the civil preparedness emergency statute. And it’s that provision that — potentially — gives him broad powers unlike any that we see in normal times. The key provision here is Section 28-9(b)(1) which states, in part: Following the Governor’s proclamation of a civil preparedness emergency pursuant to subsection (a) of this section or declaration of a public health emergency pursuant to section 19a-131a, the Governor may modify or suspend in whole or in part, by order as hereinafter provided, any statute, regulation or requirement or part thereof whenever the Governor finds such statute, regulation or requirement, or part thereof, is in con...

On Wednesday, February 26th, the CDC reported the first case of COVID-19 where the source of the chain is, as yet, unknown.  That might indicate that community spread of the virus is going undetected in California. Regardless, the CDC has warned that spread of the virus is inevitable; Connecticut joined the chorus on Wednesday preaching preparedness. Employers that have overseas operations have already started to think of these issues. Complying with requirements in China, or Italy seem to change daily and the advice seems to get tweaked as well. And while employers need to be aware of the laws that will apply, the fact remains that the issues that employers have to deal with are far more complex.  There are literally hundreds of questions on the table.  What are just some of those questions? Suppose an employee’s child gets sick with suspected COVID-19.  Should the employee be barred from the workplace during the incubation period? And if so, are you prepared ...

From time to time, I have a conversation on this blog (titled “The Dialogue”) with Nina Pirrotti, a prominent labor & employment attorney representing employees in the New Haven area. With all of us now working from home for the foreseeable future, Nina and I thought we’d bring back this recurring feature — with a pandemic twist. We did the conversation via video conference! Because if there’s a winner from this loser of a year so far, it’s the widescale adoption of the video conference.  Never mind that my home office is doubling as our “bunker” with extra supplies (Pop Tarts anyone?).  It’s just good to connect. In this segment, we talk about what our respective clients have been going through and where we see this crisis in a few months. My thanks, as always, to Nina for the conversation.  Attorneys representing management and employees can sometimes disagree but we don’t have to be disagreeable with each ...

Let’s face it: Trying to keep up with all the pandemic-related employment rules released by the state only to see them modified again and again, is challenging to say the least. And yet, the Safe Workplace Rules for Essential Employers have been modified yet again Tuesday night by the Department of Economic and Community Development, just two business days after they were already updated to ask masks as a requirement. The modifications don’t just fix a typo, but significantly change what had been put in place over the weekend by reducing the need for employees to wear a mask at all times. Effective immediately, in workplace settings where employees are working alone in segregated spaces (i.e. cubicles with walls, private offices, etc.), employees may remove their masks . But, workers need to wear masks or face coverings “from the time they enter the building until the time they arrive at their cubicle/work station and at any time they are leaving their work station an...

Governor Lamont late Friday issued new Executive Order 7BB, making it mandatory that everyone wear a mask or cloth face-covering in any public place where he or she is unable to maintain a safe social distance of at least six feet. The EO goes into effect on Monday, April 20th at 8 p.m. and also applies to any means of transit, including ride-sharing. The EO also requires DECD to update its safe workplace and safe retail store rules setting forth additional requirements for those settings. Thus, late Friday, DECD issued new workplace rules (here) and new retail store rules (here). Both appear to be effective immediately and run until at least May 20, 2020.  The rules require masks for all employees and customers. Specifically, in the workplace : Each employee shall be required to wear a mask or other cloth material that covers his or her mouth and nose at all times while in the workplace. Employers shall issue such masks or cloth face coverings to their employees. In the event an ...

Updated 10:15a, May 9, 2020 Late Friday afternoon, Governor Lamont announced that Phase I reopenings will occur as soon as May 20, 2020.  These will include “non-essential” offices that had been closed, restaurants, retail stores and hair salons.  Early on Saturday, we also got all the detailed rules that will need to be met to reopen; we’ll have a full update on my firm’s website after a full review . You can download the rules for offices here. The basic outline for the reopening rules are set forth is fairly consistent with the “Safe Workplace” rules for essential workplaces and also my posts on the subject as well. Here’s what you can look for, according to the early details released in the press conference: Offices should be limited to 50 percent capacity Employees should still work from home where possible Meetings are subject to a five person limit Employees should be seated at least six feet apart and employers should leave des...

Have you ever walked into a store, only to have your phone alert you to deals that the store was having? How did it know? Turns out many phones have Bluetooth Low Energry or BLE, for short.  This technology transmits information like a beacon to things like stores or other physical places, but also to other phones. Now imagine that your phone could alert other phones that are nearby that the user of the phone had a confirmed diagnosis for COVID-19.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing? That’s the premise of a new article by Christopher Luise, Co-CEO at Adnet Technologies, LLC here in Connecticut that I was able to co-write with him. The ability to do contact tracing digitally — that is, identify people who are carrying infectious diseases and the people they may have exposed — is something being seriously explored by several technology companies in the United States. It is already being implemented in Australia and Singapore, to name a few. For employers, the...

Today (April 30th) was filled with more news for employers and, for the first time in a while, some of it was hopeful. Governor Ned Lamont gave the broad outline of a plan to reopen the state (as I predicted early this morning) though the plan’s details depend on control of the pandemic. What we do know is that if certain trends continue, some businesses will be allowed to reopen on May 20th including some retail (smaller stores), restaurants (outdoor seating only),, offices (with work from home still recommended), nail and hair salons, and some outdoor areas of museums and zoos. Lamont has indicated that masks will be required for most activities at this first stage.  Which additional businesses will be permitted to open and when is still very much to be decided.  No doubt that day camps and pools will be heavily discussed as numerous parents rely on such camps to watch their kids during the summer months. As of publication, the exact details of the reopening hadn...

Over the weekend, I finished binge-watching Apple TV+’s The Morning Show and had two immediate reactions. First off, OMG these people are  not social-distancing .  The workplace is so crowded! WHERE ARE THEIR MASKS? But after that, I was impressed that the show presented a fairly complicated (at least for a drama) presentation of the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment. Remember #MeToo? It seems like it was years ago that Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for various sex crimes.  Yet it was just last month. But because this pandemic is so all-consuming that news quickly became a footnote. In fact, since then, there’s been very little discussion about the #MeToo movement. Which got me thinking: What  does happen to #MeToo as this pandemic rages on? I think the answer is far more nuanced than any clickbait headline could suggest.  Certainly, the lack of in-person interactions — business travel, restaurant meetings, general ...

Memorial Day Weekend, in addition to a time of reflection and observance, is also a time when many of us look at our summer plans and figure out the next three months. But like many of you, our summer plans have been cancelled. Kids aren’t going to camp. We’re not going on a trip. Even my annual ABA meeting — which I’ve done for over 15 years — has moved virtual. On the flip side, I do see a lot more grilling in my future. For employers, it’s a similarly challenging and strange time. In talking with people over the last week or so, I’m struck by how many people are not going back to the office anytime soon. Some have said maybe Labor Day.  One person told me it’ll be 2021 before he goes back; his office has realized how effective remote working can actually be. The truth is there’s no playbook for what happens next.  Clearly, restaurant and retail have been eager to reopen — and understandably so. But offices? Less s...

Let the mini-golf begin. As I noted in an earlier post, Executive Order 7PP allows for outdoor recreation businesses to reopen subject to rules that were to be promulgated by the DECD. Those rules have now been released and overall, they’re pretty consistent with the rules we’ve seen for offices, outdoor museums/zoos, and outdoor dining at restaurants. You can download the rules here. Importantly, the DECD has finally defined what is “outdoor recreation”.  It includes, for example, 1 on 1 training outside, so long as social distancing is maintained.  (Classes are not yet allowed.) Beyond that, here’s the list of other outdoor recreational businesses that are allowed to reopen on May 20th: Equestrian (subject to Dept. of Agriculture guidance) Mountain Biking Camping Boat Tours (subject to 5 passengers) Charter Fishing (subject to 5 passengers) Sport Fishing Go Kart Racing (bring your own, no rentals) Golf Driving Ranges Tennis 1:1 Training, outdoor...

If you told me in January that I’d spend a week in May: Holding a surprise car parade (“What’s a car parade?”, I’d be asking) for my wife’s birthday; Sitting 10 feet apart outside in a cul-de-sac with a friend sharing stories; Wearing a Hartford Whalers mask when walking outside; Receiving online grocery deliveries (and wiping off the groceries upon arrival); Having a law school class reunion on Zoom (“What is Zoom?”), and, Doing all my work at home (with multiple video calls a week!); I’d have said that you have quite a colorful imagination. And yet here we are. Despite the madness of the last two months, the fact remains that we are all pretty resiliant in way or the other. We adapt. Things that were completely foreign to us only two months ago, are now seemingly a way of life.  Most of us are doing what we need to do to survive and stay safe. For employers, this week presents a new challenge — adapting to the new rules ...

A few weeks ago, I did an inital post about how the new OSHA guidance on masks only served to complicate efforts for employers to comply with any such rules. This week, my colleague Alfredo Fernandez (with only a little help from me — byline notwithstanding) posted a more thorough post on the ins and outs of masks, face coverings and personal protective equipment. You can read the entire post here.  Here’s a sneak peek: The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued guidance to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the proper use of cloth face masks “at work” during the COVID-19 pandemic. The OSHA guidance must be read in conjunction with any applicable state rules and orders, many of which currently mandate that employees wear a face covering with limited exceptions. Because face masks are an essential defense against the spread of COVID-19, understanding your employees’ respiratory health risks and establishing...

Can I test my employees for COVID-19? Over the course of the last few months, it feels like the answer to that question has been Yes, No, and It Depends. And maybe all three at the same time. In fact, if you look at my post from April 2020, you’ll see the differences in the guidance between then and, as I’ll explain below, now. Quite simple, with more science, we’re starting to get greater clarity on what testing is permissible for employees. For antibody testing, the CDC recently updated its interim guidance to state that antibody test results “should not be used to make decisions about returning persons to the workplace.” Antibody testing, as it turns out, is not yet the panacea yet that many were hoping for. As a result, on June 17, 2020, the EEOC  also updated its guidance on whether antibody testing could be used by employers as a condition of permitting employees to return to the workplace. The short answer is “No”, it cannot be used...

What do you think of masks? Strangely, it seems a loaded question of late.  How masks became a political hot potato is something that historians will debate. Yesterday, Connecticut tried out a new slogan encouraging common-sense use of masks. The new slogan? “If you have to ask, wear a mask”. But that’s not the full story of course. In all of the state’s reopening rules, masks (and face coverings) are a key component — in stores, restaurants, offices, even amusement parks. OSHA has chimed in as well with a new FAQ purporting to recap existing regulations on the subject. If you read that, though, you might think that employers in Connecticut are exempt from provide masks to their workers now. Cloth face coverings are not considered personal protective equipment (PPE) and are not intended to be used when workers need PPE for protection against exposure to occupational hazards. As such, OSHA’s PPE standards do not require employers to provide them. ...