Vaccine Mandates and Federal Guidance: EEOC and OSHA, Religious and Medical Accommodations, State Law Limits
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Employment and Workers Comp
- event Date
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE webinar will provide employment counsel with guidance on the current state of enforcement of federal and state vaccine mandates and what employers may require to accommodate a religious or medical objection to mandates. The panel will discuss EEOC guidance and state requirements in Illinois, California, and other states. The panel will address best practices for employment health-related policies in both the context of COVID-19 and future non-COVID illnesses.
Mr. Harty regularly represents companies, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher learning in day-to-day and complex labor and employment issues. He has tried almost 100 cases to verdict. Mr. Harty is frequent author and lecturer on employment law issues, among others.
Mr. Zielinski has been representing employers in virtually all aspects of their relationships to employees and various government agencies since 1982. His representations include union organizing, negotiations and arbitrations; litigation of individual or class employment claims over discrimination, wages, benefits and so forth; compliance programs; and proactive advice on managing situations to avoid litigation. Given the length and breadth of his experience, Mr. Zielinski takes a holistic approach to helping clients resolve issues in the context of general compliance and the client's business strategy.
Ms. Barna’s practice focuses on civil litigation and corporate counseling in the areas of employment law and complex commercial matters. She represents businesses in a broad spectrum of industries, including commercial real estate, financial services, health care, and retail. Ms. Barna’s experience includes representing employers in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies and arbitration tribunals on a wide range of issues involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, breach of employment contracts, wage and hour compliance, tort claims, and restrictive covenants; counseling employers on workplace and employment law issues, such as discipline and termination, workplace accommodations, FMLA and similar state law leave issues, wage and hour compliance, and internal investigations; conducting workplace training seminars for employers, including managers and non-supervisory personnel; and drafting employment policies and procedures as well as employee handbooks and manuals.
On Oct. 25, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance for resolving religious objections to COVID-19 workplace vaccination mandates under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This guidance comes when many employees are submitting requests for accommodations to workplace vaccine mandates based on both religious and medical-related reasons.
As to requests for an accommodation based on sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance, the EEOC has said that under Title VII, employers must approach each request on an individualized, fact-specific basis and weigh the requested accommodation against any undue hardship it may cause. While employees must put employers on notice, they need not use "magic words" to trigger their requests. Employment counsel should advise employers that under federal law, they may make a "limited factual inquiry" and seek additional information if they have an "objective basis for questioning either the religious nature or the sincerity of a particular belief."
The ADA provides that when employees have a health-related reason, including, without limitation, a disability of some sort, which prevents them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, they have the right to seek an exemption as an accommodation. Such situations may arise where an individual had a prior allergic or hypersensitivity reaction to other vaccines, to a component of the COVID-19 vaccine, or a recent COVID case, resulting in the necessity of a waiting period before vaccination. Alternatively, certain disabling health conditions may result in a treating healthcare provider recommending that certain applicants or employees not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Even if an accommodation request is valid, the employer may be permitted to deny the request if the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer.
It is also important for employers to be aware that state or local laws may differ from Title VII and the ADA, including industry-specific rules regarding COVID-19 vaccine mandates and accommodation requests.
Employers should ensure that they have personnel policies in place that memorialize their compliance with the ADA, Title VII, the PDA, and other applicable laws and their commitment to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees as the law may require. The policies should set forth the procedure via which the employer expects its employees to submit an accommodation request and provide details on how they should do so.
Listen as our expert panel discusses the enforceability of current vaccine mandates and the requirements under federal law, and some state or local laws for accommodation requests based on religious or disability reasons. The panel will discuss best practices of employers in creating personnel policies for compliance with all applicable laws.
- Vaccine mandates
- Exemptions
- Religious
- Disability
- Litigation status
- State restrictions
- Illinois
- California
- Other states
- Exemptions
The panel will address these and other key topics:
- What is the status of litigation regarding vaccine mandates?
- How far can employers go in making a "limited factual inquiry" into an employee's religious belief when seeking an exemption?
- What must an employee provide when seeking a disability exemption from vaccine mandates?
