March 2021

Winstead PC Shareholder Taylor White published the first article for his column in Texas Lawyer about labor and employment issues and trending topics. The article is titled “Best Practices and Considerations for Employers Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Workplace.” The article is below:

“With states individually rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine to residents, employers are, and should be, beginning to consider their options with respect to employee vaccinations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has previously recommended giving the COVID-19 vaccine in phases initially, as it relates to employees: (1) health care employees; then, (2) frontline essential employees, such as education workers, manufacturing workers, first responders, and food and agricultural workers; and then, (3) other essential workers, such as construction workers, finance workers, and transportation and logistics workers. Of course, ‘the goal is for everyone to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as large quantities are available.’Continue Reading Taylor White in Texas Lawyer: Best Practices and Considerations for Employers Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Workplace

Taylor White recently presented for Winstead’s  ‘Healthcare Employer Roundtable – Best Practices and Considerations for Employers Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Workplace’ virtual event. During the presentation, Taylor discussed how employers in the healthcare space are faced with a unique set of challenges
Continue Reading Presentation: Best Practices and Considerations for Employers Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine in the Workplace

On Friday, February 26, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 (the “2021 Notice”) to address expiring relief provisions previously provided in the DOL’s Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 (“Notice 2020-01”) and the Notice of Extension of Certain Timeframes for Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, and Beneficiaries Affected by the COVID–19 Outbreak (“Joint Notice”) (along with Notice 2020-01, the “2020 Notices”) issued by the DOL, the Department of the Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively “Agencies”).  This highly anticipated guidance provides a somewhat more expansive interpretation of the relief period prescribed under the 2020 Notices.
Continue Reading Oh, What a Relief it Is! DOL Provides Guidance on COVID-19 Relief Periods