Even before the Biden Administration promulgated its now-in-legal-limbo vaccination/testing mandates, the COVID-19 pandemic had brought health-related, and religious-related, matters to the forefront of the employer-employee relationship, perhaps like never seen before. As a result, employers often have been forced to have difficult conversations with employees over topics like mandatory vaccinations, working from home, masking requirements, and exemption requests. This article addresses some of the common responses employers have received from employees over these issues and some suggestions as to response strategies.
The provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, are often misunderstood. While HIPAA does include a Privacy Rule, that rule is entirely inapplicable to the workplace—employers can ask employees for information when needed, and employment records are not covered under HIPAA, even those containing personal health information. If an employee objects to discussing health information on HIPAA grounds, you can tell the employee that HIPAA does not apply to your conversation and that a failure to cooperate will not be tolerated.
With limited exceptions that apply only to public-sector employees, the First Amendment, in and of itself, provides employees with no workplace protections. Even as to...
Jordan Nyesom-Wike, son of Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has accused Safwan Garba, a businessman and his lawyer of making false claims in a petition to the Economic...