On May 5, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed into law the Health and Essential Rights Act (HERO Act), which imposes on all non-public employers significant health and safety standards intended to address the spread of airborne infectious diseases, like COVID-19, in the workplace.  The HERO act is touted as the “first-in-the-nation” statute of its kind, apart from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), which until now has governed applicable workplace safety standards.  It is not clear to what extent the HERO Act would be superseded by the OSH Act, but for now employers must ensure that they comply with its mandates.
Continue Reading New York Enacts HERO Act Requiring All Employers to Implement Health and Safety Standards to Address Airborne Infectious Diseases

Effective April 20, 2020 at 8:00 p.m., employees in the workplace are required to wear a face mask or cloth face covering. Governor Lamont issued this directive as part of Executive Order No. 7BB, which also requires individuals in public to “cover their mouth and nose with a mask or cloth face-covering” when a “safe social distance of approximately six feet from every other person” cannot be maintained. Connecticut follows New York’s lead once again, as New York previously implemented a substantively identical order.
Continue Reading Connecticut Updates Safe Workplace Rules to Require Masks In the Workplace

Governor Cuomo’s most recent executive order requires employees “present in the workplace” to wear “face coverings” when in “direct contact with customers or members of the public.”  The order further requires that employers pay for and provide such face coverings.  The order is effective Wednesday night, April 15, 2020 at 8:00pm.
Continue Reading Cuomo Orders Employers to Provide “Face Coverings” for External-facing Employees