This edition summarizes key employment law developments during the last quarter of 2021, including, among other COVID-19 vaccine mandates instituted around the globe, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s contested mandatory vaccination-or-testing rule, about which the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 7, 2022. We also discuss expanded whistleblower protections in New York and in France, New York’s amended wage deduction allowances, California’s prohibitions against nondisclosure restrictions and support of employer-mandated arbitration agreements, and some newly enacted cannabis rules.
International Spotlight
On November 5, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) generally requiring employers with 100 or more employees to develop, implement and enforce mandatory policies requiring employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering in the workplace. The following day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay implementation and enforcement of the ETS until further court order, and challenges to the ETS in other circuits quickly followed. Pursuant to the “multicircuit lottery” process, a blind lottery determined that all cases challenging the ETS were to be consolidated and transferred to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth...
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