January 12, 2023

New Study of Employees With Long COVID Demonstrates Need for More Workplace Accommodations

Since the beginning of the pandemic “long COVID” remains a new and poorly understood condition both for medical experts and people suffering from the condition. For workers, this has had a significant impact on their ability to remain productive at work. One in five people reporting a positive COVID diagnosis report experiencing symptoms of long COVID, according to the CDC. And, in a new study focused on long-COVID sufferers, 99% of participants reported that the condition had adversely affected their work. Participants reported having to take time off work, depression, anxiety, and even switching jobs.

The study also revealed that these problems are not merely personal, as employers have not done enough to create clear ways to communicate the availability for accommodations, which are required under the ADA, broadened in summer of 2021 to recognize “long COVID” as a disability. Respondents reported lack of workplace flexibility, poor communication, and a more general fear of broaching the subject with employers., all of which were more acutely felt among  respondents of color.

However, there is much that employers can do to help employees who are dealing with long COVID. The first is simply to talk more openly about the condition. Many people are not even aware they are suffering from long COVID because of the lack of diagnostic tools to point to the condition coupled with its similarities with other common mental health conditions. However, many of those conditions already allow for accommodations, so employers should not be fearful of widening the discussion to include long COVID. Additionally, many of those accommodations cost little, are easy to implement and have been used for other conditions for years, making it an easy target for employers.

Sarah Palin dined indoors while unvaccinated— but what will the City do to the restaurant?

January 28, 2022
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The focus has been centered on Palin’s bizarre and abhorrent choice to expose those around her to the disease, but it bears examining the potential steps the City might take against the restaurant’s owners, who allowed her to dine inside.

Variants Mean Parents Need More Help

January 28, 2022
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Although the current Omicron wave appears to be cresting in many parts of the country, the fact remains that there will likely be more waves in future months, many of which will deeply affect parents and other caregivers.

Mayor Adams to Continue NYC Vaccine Mandate

January 10, 2022
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There were questions about whether New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams, who assumed office on New Year’s Day, would extend the vaccine mandate instituted by his predecessor, Bill De Blasio, but they have been answered in the affirmative, with Adams confirming during a weekday Covid presser that the private employer vaccine mandate would continue.

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