Labor & Employment Law Blog

On March 19, 2020, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance for employers on responding to legal concerns under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) arising out the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.  The guidance, What You Should Know About the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and COVID-19, addresses common employer concerns about what medical inquiries an employer can make, when it can ask employees to leave the workplace based on such concerns, and under what circumstances an employer can ask for a doctor’s release from such employees before allowing them to return.  Among the key components of the guidance are the following:

With the rapid spread of the pandemic—COVID-19, employees have been sent home due to business closures, factory shutdowns, temporary lay-offs, and forced quarantines.  Other employees remain home due to their own illness, to care for someone who has fallen ill, or to care for children who can no longer attend school.  Amongst the chaos, many employees are scrambling to survive to pay rent, monthly bills and other expenses without any source of income.

The California Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”), the agency that oversees the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE” or “the Labor Commissioner”), workers’ compensation, and Cal-OSHA (among other things), released guidelines confirming its interpretation of California wage and hour laws potentially applicable to the workplace in light of the spread of COVID-19.