NJ Governor Murphy Signs Legislation and Executive Order Ending COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

With all COVID-19 capacity restrictions on businesses and gathering limits having been lifted due to the continued improvement of New Jersey’s public health metrics, Governor Phil Murphy today signed legislation (A5820/S3866) enabling the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency that has been in place since March 9, 2020. Immediately following the signing of the legislation, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 244, ending the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Under the legislation, the majority of executive orders issued pursuant to the Public Health Emergency will expire 30 days from today.

Dental Professionals at Increased Risk for COVID-19

Dental professionals for increased risk of COVID-19 infection a newly published study reports.

Court Rejects Roundup Settlement

The proposed class action settlement in the Bayer Roundup Products Liability Litigation has been rejected by a Federal District Court overseeing the Multi District Litigation (MDL). The Court concluded that the potential future claims group, those who have not yet been diagnosed with Non-Hodgins Lymphoma (NHL) but used Roundup before February 2021, was unreasonable. Bayer purchased Roundup from Monsanto.

CMS Webinar on the PAID Act

To implement the  Provide Accurate Information Directly (PAID) Act*, enacted December. 11, 2020 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has scheduled a webinar. The program will stream on Wednesday, June 21, 2021.

Death by Overwork

The consequences of working too much can have fatal consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend by extending work hours through remote work and eliminating time-off, including vacations. The toll on the American workforce is devastating, and the consequences on the entire workers’ compensation system are enormous. 

NJ Senate to Vote on Employment Bill

Workers in NJ who are injured at work do not have protected job status. Typically, employers will fill their positions with a replacement just because they are “absent" from work.

The NJ Senate will vote vote on S2998 on June 3, 2021. This bill addressed that issue and requires any employer who has 50 or more employees to provide a hiring preference to an employee who was injured in a work- related injury, has reached maximum medical improvement, and cannot return to the employee’s former position with that employer. The employer is only required to provide the hiring preference if the employee can perform the essential duties of an existing, unfilled position.

The bill does not require an employer to create a new position for the injured employee, nor does it require the employer to remove another employee from an existing but filled position to accommodate the injured employee.

The identical bill was approved by the NJ Assembly 76-0 on May 20. 2021. The NJ Senate SLA Committee reported the bill out favorably on 1/29/20 3-0.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (Thomson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Issues Update On Vaccinations

The following is shared from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission eeoc.gov