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.

FFCRA Complaints for the Week of October 9: Child Care Leave Remains a Hot Button Issue

October 21, 2020
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As experts suspected, the fall and colder weather has meant more people indoors, which has led to significant new outbreaks, especially across the US and Europe. Employers have not been as forgiving with parents who are requesting or taking leave granted to them under the FFCRA to deal with child care needs.

Annual Law360 Survey Shows Gender Gap in the Legal Profession Remains Wide

October 21, 2020
Gender Discrimination
Increased awareness and focus on gender disparity at law firms has done little over the last year to make gains within the profession, especially at its highest levels, reports Law360 in its annual glass ceiling survey.

Princeton to Settle in Gender Pay Inequity Case

October 13, 2020
Gender Discrimination
Officials at Princeton University have agreed to settle a case regarding pay inequities for 106 full current and former female professors as part of the conclusion of a nearly decade long federal investigation into pay disparities at the university.

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