Returning to the Office - Legal Liability

What should employers be thinking about in terms of legal liabilities as they plan for a return to in-person work? We asked an employment law expert. As more and more Americans are vaccinated and state and local restrictions lifted, many offices are reopening after a year of interruptions, closures, and remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Labor and employment law expert Sara Kalis of Paul Hastings explores potential liability issues and offers practical advice on return-to-office policies and procedures. She explains some of the key considerations including OSHA’s health and safety requirements, social distancing plans, leave policies, workplace accommodations, and communications with employees. ► http://www.talksonlaw.com for more legal explainers and interviews with the titans of law. ► Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/talksonlaw ► Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/talksonlaw ► Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/talksonlaw ► TalksOnLaw does not provide legal advice. Learn more here: https://www.talksonlaw.com/briefs#about_tol_briefs_tol_is_not_your_lawyer ____________________ TRANSCRIPT An interview with employment law expert, Sara Kalis. 0:00 Returning to the Office – Legal Liabilities Joel Cohen (host): Today we're talking about getting back to work and some of the legal questions that companies are facing as they're welcoming their employees back into the office. Hello and welcome to TalksOnLaw i'm Joel Cohen. Today, we're joined remotely by Sara Kalis of the law firm Paul Hastings. Sara, when we think of going back to work are employers responsible or may perhaps more importantly are they liable for the health and safety of their employees? 00:31 Employer Obligation to Maintain Health and Safety Sara Kalis (Sara): Great question Joel so big picture employers have an obligation to maintain a safe workplace they have an osha obligation actually to follow certain protocols to make sure that that safe workplace does follow standards what does that mean though when an employer implements policies requiring employees to maintain social distancing and then employees decide not to maintain that social distance i think it's challenging because you can't waive that OSHA obligation but on the flip side you also can't force employees to maintain their social distancing if they're the ones voluntarily choosing to avoid social distancing so it's a balance between the two what i've counseled a lot of clients to do is make sure that your policies have an acknowledgement so as we've mentioned before making sure the policies are up-to-date and current and compliant while at the same time making sure employees are aware of those policies and they've been trained on those policies work together so that you have the acknowledgement so that you have the best defense possible is it a complete slam dunk of course not, nothing ever is. 1:40 Making the Office Safe for Employees 2:32 Practical Considerations: Policies, Communications, and Accommodations 04:16 What if an employee does not want to return to the office? 04:54 The Interactive Process 05:56 Accommodations Can Set a Precedent [Transcript abridged due to space constraints.] _________ TalksOnLaw Is Not Your Lawyer. TalksOnLaw videos (and their captions) are intended to offer insight into an area of law or to provide a limited overview of a legal topic. TalksOnLaw does not provide legal advice like you could receive from speaking with an attorney about your legal concerns. We are a platform for lawyers to teach others about the law, but TalksOnLaw is not anyone’s attorney. Learn more here: https://www.talksonlaw.com/briefs#about_tol_briefs_tol_is_not_your_lawyer