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To keep your workplace compliant with current Virginia workplace rules around COVID-19, here are three legal updates employers should know: (1) Pandemic-era workplace restrictions are being rolled back. (2) Interim employer guidance is now available; and (3) Employers should follow the interim guidelines until Virginia provides further updates.   Now let’s dive deeper into how Virginia’s pandemic-era workplace rules are… Read More

To reduce potential lawsuits and EEOC charges, here are three things employers can address in their parental leave policies: (1) they should be inclusive; (2) they should be gender neutral, and (3) they can address any medical leave, such as for child birth, through a short-term disability policy. By making these three changes to a parental leave policy, a company… Read More

Employer COVID Guidance: The Path Back to Normalcy The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI), under the new administration of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, is in the process of “returning to normal.” Many Virginia employees have achieved some level of immunity, whether vaccine-induced or due to a prior COVID infection, and so DOLI is set to scale back pandemic-era… Read More

A long-overlooked form of racial discrimination relates to how employers address the “professional” appearance of employees and enforce potentially discriminatory grooming and appearance policies.  In the past, courts have not considered hair textures and styles as immutable characteristics protected by federal and state anti-discrimination laws.  Employers banning employees from wearing or commenting on employees’ natural and protective hair textures and… Read More

  As employers begin reopening offices and employees return to the workplace, The Lipp Law Firm has received questions about how to safely and effectively do so.  One of the main questions is whether employers must require employees to wear masks in the workplace.  For now, the answer is generally “yes”—employees, regardless of vaccination status, in areas of Virginia with… Read More

Your company received an EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) charge. Now what? You will need to respond to the charge, usually with a position statement, which is a document outlining defenses and the company’s side of the story. Sometimes the EEOC will grant an extension of time to respond to the charge, but generally it is best to contact your… Read More

Clean Record Settlements for Federal Employees May Return In January 2022, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed changes to regulations governing clean record settlements. OPM’s proposed rule is currently open for comment before it makes a final decision.   What is a clean record settlement? When a federal government employee is subject to disciplinary action, that is called adverse action. … Read More

On January 21, 2022, a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction blocking federal agencies from enforcing the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for federal employees.  The now-halted federal employee vaccine mandate would have allowed federal agencies to discipline non-compliant civilian employees—who had not been granted or had pending medical or religious exemptions—beginning January 21, 2022.  Possible disciplinary actions could… Read More

Keeping up with the vax mandates in the States has been frustrating. Here’s a rundown for those who want to stay in the know from an employment perspective: ? OSHA 100+ Employee Vax or Test Rule: This went into effect Monday, January 10. Currently, unvaxxed employees are required to wear masks, and companies should have a compliant policy. In February,… Read More

Supreme Court blocks OSHA vax or test rule, calling it a "significant encroachment into the lives—and health—of a vast number of employees." The Supreme Court has blocked OSHA's vax or test rule applicable to employers with 100+ employees. The OSHA rule is now stayed (paused) while the case gets litigated in the lower court, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.… Read More