On October 29, 2021, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice discontinued an interim injunction that it had issued on October 22, 2021, staying the terminations of several healthcare employees who were not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Some states are continuing to push back on government and private employer vaccine mandates through state legislation and lawsuits against the federal government.
The District of Columbia Council has passed legislation mandating that employers provide paid leave to employees for time spent obtaining and, if needed, recovering from side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine.
On November 8, 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1169, which amends the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act to clarify that the Act was not intended to apply to COVID-19 requirements.
On November 5, 2021, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law Senate Bill 9 that places new limits on Alabama employers’ ability to terminate the employment of workers who refuse a mandated COVID-19 vaccine.
OSHA has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard requiring all employers with at least 100 employees to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.
On November 4, 2021, the Biden administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an interim final rule requiring healthcare worker vaccinations.
As the world closes in on the two-year anniversary of the beginning of the pandemic, and in the face of stagnating rates of vaccination, governments and employers anxious to return to “normal” have been increasingly requiring that workers be vaccinated.
NY has expanded the definition of “family member” under the New York Paid Family Leave Act to include “siblings,” and updated its guidance regarding paid leave time for COVID-19 vaccinations.
