Companies reopening their offices and facilities will be collecting sensitive personal and health information about their employees (as well as about customers, vendors, and other visitors) to track COVID-19 symptoms. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) typically places strict limits on the collection, use, and disclosure of health information about employees, the ongoing pandemic has prompted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to permit the widespread gathering of health information in the workplace in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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Are Employee Absences Giving You A Headache?
One of the most problematic areas for employers is the balancing act which occurs between managing employee productivity and attendance while taking care not to tread on entitlement to Family and Medical Leave (“FMLA”) and Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) protections. Intermittent and unforeseeable absences are at the top of the list of challenges, and one particularly challenging issue is migraine headaches.
Individuals who suffer from migraines know they are usually 1) unpredictable and 2) debilitating. They often result in employees calling in at the last minute, leaving work midday or being out for days at a time without notice.
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The Zika Virus: Is It a Concern for U.S. Employers?
The Zika Virus, an illness transmitted primarily by mosquitoes and also, less frequently, through blood transfusions and sexual contact has certainly been in the news recently. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued travel warnings alerting people to the risk of
Supreme Court Upholds ACA Federal Exchange Subsidies
In the latest case to challenge elements of the Affordable Care Act (“Act”), the United States Supreme Court in a six-to-three vote, ruled on June 25, 2015 in King v. Burwell that premium subsidies will remain available in 36 states in which the federal government has primary responsibility for running health insurance exchanges.
The legal
The Dangerous Intersection of Social Media and the ADA
People often think of the Americans with Disabilities Act as a law that protects individuals with physical and mental disabilities from discrimination or other unfair treatment. What is seldom mentioned is that the ADA also protects the confidentiality of employee medical information, and requires