10 MiMfg Magazine May 2021
PREMIUM ASSOCIATE
Member Spotlight
Miller Canfield
Member since February 1989 • Learn more at millercanfield . com
Megan Norris
Chief Executive Officer
Navigating the obstacle course of employer and employee rights has never been more challenging than it has been since March 2020 .
Megan Norris and her team are helping employers with of those challenges . She is the CEO of Miller Canfield , an international law firm headquartered in Detroit with a long history in employment law .
Some of the COVID-19- related legal challenges they ’ ve seen include mandatory facility shutdowns , shifting unemployment regulations , managing layoffs and staff reductions , determining when employees can come back to work , implementing new health screening and medical testing policies , rearranging work stations and workflow to maintain social distancing and limit contact .
And now , most recently , employee vaccinations .
With vaccines to combat COVID-19 available and with job providers anxious to return the full complement of workers to in-person work , many employers are wondering if they can require employees to get vaccinated . While the answer is a cautious yes , the better question is should employers require their employees to get vaccinated ?
“ Employers usually don ’ t like to tell employees what to do medically . They won ’ t order an employee to have heart surgery , or get a flu vaccination ,” Norris says .
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ( EEOC ), employers can implement mandatory COVID-19 policies ,
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but there are certain religious exemptions , as well as the possible need to excuse an employee as an accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act ( ADA ). In addition , for unionized employers , a mandatory vaccine policy may require some additional agreements with the union before implementation . And all employers must be wary regarding possible consequences for employees who refuse to get vaccinated , and mindful of whether any corrective action issued to employees for engaging in opposition to their mandatory vaccination policy violates the National Labor Relations Act ( NLRA ).
Whether employers make vaccines mandatory or offer incentives , they must be aware that some exceptions exist . Laws protecting an employee ’ s privacy , such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ( HIPAA ), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ( GINA ) and the ADA come into play . And , if an employer does nothing at all regarding
Best Part of My Job I spend most of my day with very intelligent , passionate people ... we may not always agree but I always feel like we ’ re all playing for the same team and trying to do what is best .
vaccines , COVID-19 meets the EEOC ’ s definition of a “ direct threat ,” so employers must consider whether an unvaccinated employee could be considered a direct threat to the health of their workplace .
Perhaps the biggest firewall employers can have for protecting themselves against COVID-19- related issues in the workplace is their screening policy .
“ You want to keep a written record of this . Because if you do turn someone away or someone says they can ’ t come in , you want to have a documented reason for that and that should be kept separate from their personnel file because it can include confidential medical information ,” Norris advises .
Norris recommends that all employers have some legal guardrails as we continue to slowly but surely return to a new normal . “ Every business is different . There are no one size fits all solutions ,” she adds . 6
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