There’s going to be lots of virtual ink spilled about the politics of the Supreme Court’s decision today and the ultimate ramifications of the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard.  In case you hadn’t heard, the  Supreme Court this afternoon decided to grant a stay of the OSHA rule, meaning it is on hold and employers now

The Omicron Wave is either nearly here or already here in Connecticut depending on what reports you listen to.

For employers, its difficult to know exactly what to expect particularly over the next few weeks; there is no statewide mask mandate, for example, and no closures anticipated from state or local governments.  Yet, this strain

Late Friday night, the Sixth Circuit lifted the nationwide stay on the OSHA so-called “vax-or-text” rule. 

For employers, the “why” the stay was lifted is less important than the “here’s what it means”.

And the short answer to that is that implementation of the rule will begin immediately (again). Of course, there’s still an appeal

Over the last two weeks or so, several federal courts have issued nationwide injunctions prohibiting the U.S. government from going forward with mandatory vaccination (or vax and test) rules that have been implemented.

First, it was the Fifth Circuit that stayed the OSHA “Vax or Test” ETS. That case and others around the country have

Put aside, for the moment, fears of the omicron variant. We just don’t know enough about it even though Connecticut had its first case announced this weekend.

And put aside, for the moment, the new mandate in New York City that is requiring all employers to require proof of vaccination for employees.

Rather, I

Last week, I deleted the Twitter app off my iPhone as a bit of an experiment.  I’ve done this a few times before — but the start of the pandemic back in early 2020 had me going full on Twitter since then.  After all, if it’s important, it’s on Twitter, right?

Well, not exactly.  In fact, when I was sick for a few days, I kept turning to Twitter and finding…not much that merited the visit to the app — just boredom.  (Never fear though, I can still access it on my computer browser.)  Nevertheless, I wondered how much I’d miss if I just took it of my phone.

The first real answer came on Friday when news came of the Fifth Circuit’s beatdown decision to stay enforcement of the OSHA vax or test Emergency Temporary Standard.  Turns out you can hear about it the same time as others even without being on Twitter.

But what happened next was interesting for me — nothing. Without being on Twitter, I missed the immediate reactions, overreactions, snark, and, sure, some actual insights.

And that’s ok.

We are entering a time during this pandemic when the changes are happening more incrementally and slowly.  Perhaps we are headed for a modest 5th wave here, for example.  That might require employers to adjust on the fly again.  But speed isn’t everything right now.

Thus, with the luxury of a few more days to ponder and think, where are we now on the OSHA rule?
Continue Reading Court Stays OSHA ETS, But We Know All Too Well It’s Not the Last Word

Did you like Executive Order 12 which set forth a new mask rule in Connecticut? Well, I hope you didn’t get used to it because it changed again on Thursday.

Executive Order 12A tweaks the prior rule.

It provides that the Department of Public Health shall issue a rule setting forth a comprehensive list of

It’s supposed to snow Friday here in Connecticut.

In October.

For those of us with memories, we all remember the last time we got substantial snowfall in October in 2011. It ended with lots of power outages and many downed trees. So let’s first hope the snow is just more nuisance than anything else.

Far