Dive Transient:
- Employers can’t robotically revoke cheap lodging associated to COVID-19, regardless of the dissolution of the “public well being emergency” standing for the pandemic, the U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee cautioned employers Monday. “Employers could consider lodging granted throughout the public well being emergency, and, in session with the worker, assess whether or not there continues to be a necessity for cheap lodging primarily based on individualized circumstances,” the company mentioned.
- The warning got here as EEOC introduced updates to its technical steering, “What You Ought to Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Different EEO Legal guidelines,” together with extra lodging examples and suggestions for stopping COVID-related harassment.
- The EEOC highlighted that lodging embrace low-cost or free measures, similar to uninterrupted work time, a quiet workspace or noise-canceling headphones to facilitate that.
Dive Perception:
Masks and vaccine mandates have been a COVID-19 compliance concern since March 2020. However lengthy COVID, tips on how to deal with it and tips on how to handle its intersection with each day life, has grow to be a growing compliance concern.
EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows mentioned in an announcement that these updates create a “capstone” to the company’s “complete useful resource of questions and solutions” on anti-discrimination legal guidelines regarding COVID-19.
Whereas employers shouldn’t instantly pull pandemic-era COVID lodging, Burrows mentioned that in flip, the top of the general public well being emergency could be a teachable second. “It will assist staff and employers perceive how the People with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and different federal legal guidelines proceed to guard our nation’s workforce from employment discrimination,” Burrows continued. “The EEOC stays dedicated to vigorous enforcement of those legal guidelines.”
