Last month, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), which, effective April 1, 2021, grants tax credits to eligible employers that reimburse them for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave to their employees due to COVID-19.
The ARP tax credits are available to eligible employers that pay sick and family leave for leave from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021. An eligible employer is any business, including a tax-exempt organization, with fewer than 500 employees.
Eligible employers are entitled to tax credits for wages paid for leave taken by employees who are not able to work or telework due to reasons related to COVID-19, including leave taken to receive COVID–19 vaccinations or to recover from any injury, disability, illness, or condition related to the vaccinations.
Details are available on the IRS website.
OSHA Guidance on Recording Adverse Vaccine Reactions
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued guidance stating that an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is recordable if the reaction is:
work-related;
a new case;
meets one or more of the general recording criteria (for example, days away from work, restricted work, or medical treatment beyond first aid); and
the vaccine is required for employees.
In other words, if an employer hasn’t mandated the vaccine, an adverse reaction to the vaccine doesn’t have to be recorded—even if the employer has recommended vaccination.
OSHA doesn’t define what reactions would be considered to be “work-related” or how employers should conduct the analysis. Unless there is an anaphylactic reaction during the medical review period after the vaccine, an employer is unlikely to know whether the symptoms were caused by the vaccine.
OSHA Crackdown on Retaliation
The Occupational Safety and Health Act prohibits employers from retaliating against employees because they report unsafe or unhealthy work conditions, and OSHA has been cracking down on employers that retaliate against workers who raise COVID-19 concerns.
Retaliation includes termination of employment, demotions, transfers to different jobs or locations, reduction in pay or hours, and denials of overtime or promotion.
Even if the negative action occurs for other reasons, it can be difficult for an employer to defend a retaliation claim when the action occurs shortly after an employee raises concerns.
A successful retaliation claim may entitle the employee to reinstatement, back and front pay, emotional distress damages, attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages, so it is important to consult with an experienced employment attorney before taking any negative action against an employee who has brought up any COVID-19 or other safety related concerns.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the above or any other aspect of employment law.
You may also be interested in Employment Law (in Plain English)®, by Leonard D. DuBoff, Kenneth A. Perea, Christopher Perea, and Lauren Barnes, available from Allworth Press, Bookshop, Powell’s Books, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Photo by Kristine Wook on Unsplash
