January 14, 2022
Status of Vaccine Mandate Litigation (January 14, 2023) This past November, multiple courts issued orders halting the implementation of various vaccination mandates promulgated by agencies within the Biden Administration. While the legal process for reviewing these mandates continues, they all…
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January 12, 2022
2022 HIPAA Updates In March 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extended the comment period for proposed changes to the Privacy Rule ( 86 Fed. Reg. 13683) until May 6, 2021. Since that time, there still…
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December 23, 2021
UPDATED (12/23/2021): Wednesday evening, the Supreme Court agreed to take up the OSHA ETS mandate case from the Sixth Circuit and the CMS healthcare worker mandate cases from the Fifth and Eighth Circuit. Oral arguments for both mandates will be…
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September 10, 2021
Yesterday, on September 9, 2021, President Biden announced his new Path Out of the Pandemic: COVID-19 Action Plan. This six-part plan mandates employers with more than 100 employees, federal government employees, federal contractors, and many healthcare entities to ensure that all employees are vaccinated against COVID-19. The Plan also includes other topics of interest to employers, including requirements that large entertainment venues screen patrons for vaccine status upon entry, and expanded access to federal financial assistance for many businesses.
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March 29, 2021
The number of women attorneys at Shuttleworth & Ingersoll is impressive, but the women of Shuttleworth & Ingersoll are never just a number: they are an integral part of our firm and of Iowa’s legal community leadership.
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February 22, 2021
Under the new legislation, FFCRA paid sick leave and paid FMLA leave is no longer required, but employers may choose to voluntarily continue to provide these benefits, and obtain the associated tax credit, through March 31, 2021. This means that mandated paid leave for employers with fewer than 500 employees ends on 12/31/2020.
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February 19, 2021
Labor & Employment Law Attorney Sara Sidwell addresses some of the most asked questions the firm is hearing from employers as it relates to COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Vaccine.
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February 1, 2021
Phase 1B of the COVID-19 vaccination will begin Monday, February 1 in Iowa. This phase includes persons 65 and older and specific populations vulnerable to high risk of exposure or severity of illness. However, due to limited vaccine supply, certain populations within Phase 1B will be given priority.
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January 19, 2021
In December, 2020, the EEOC updated its technical assistance guide addressing COVID-19, the ADA and other EEO Laws as they relate to the COVID-19 vaccine. In this guidance, it confirmed that the vaccine is not a medical exam, and appears to authorize employers mandating employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, subject to certain exceptions. These include the requirement to consider reasonable accommodation for medical disabilities that prevent an employee from being able to receive the vaccine, and to accommodate religious beliefs that prevent it.
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January 19, 2021
On January 14, 2021, President-Elect Biden announced his “American Rescue Plan (ARP),” the incoming administration’s proposed COVID-19 relief package. The Plan includes a national vaccination program, an additional $1,400 stimulus payment, economic support for impacted businesses, education support and a focus on reopening kindergarten through 8th grade schools, eviction and foreclosure relief, measures to address food insecurity, extended unemployment benefits, and perhaps of most interest to employers, a plan to revive and extend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) paid leave requirements.
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January 11, 2021
On December 27, 2020 the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act), Public Law 116-260, was signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. This new tax law confirmed that confirmed that congress intended for eligible business expenses to be deductible even if the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that funded the expenses were forgiven.
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December 29, 2020
Stark essentially prohibits (i) physicians from referring patients to any entity with which the physician has a direct or indirect financial relationship, (ii) such entity from filing claims with Medicare for services resulting from a prohibited referral. The new final rule introduces three new exceptions with requirements and definition reflecting a value-based paradigm, where exceptions are based on participants assuming some level of financial risk.
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