Health Law Advisor

We recently wrote about proposed Oregon legislation that would have addressed workplace violence in healthcare settings but failed to move forward in the legislature due to concerns about a provision that would have made assault on a hospital worker punishable as a felony.

This was not a concern that troubled the Kentucky legislature, which on March 27, 2024, signed and delivered to the state governor a bill relating to workplace violence against healthcare workers. The Kentucky legislation expands the offense of assault in the third degree perpetrated against a variety of ...

Oregon’s HB 4088A, introduced in the state legislature during the 2024 session, died in the Joint Ways and Means Committee when the legislature adjourned on March 7. The legislation was intended to strengthen Oregon’s workplace violence prevention laws by adding regulatory requirements and enhancing the criminal repercussions for assault of hospital workers. While most of the bill had bipartisan support, section 6 of the proposed legislation, which would have made the assault of a hospital worker a felony instead of a misdemeanor, garnered strong opposition.

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As we reported, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new healthcare worker minimum wage ordinance, increasing the minimum wage for healthcare workers at private healthcare facilities in Los Angeles to $25.00 per hour. Similarly, the Downey City Council approved its own citywide healthcare worker minimum wage ordinance. For the moment, however, both ordinances are on pause. The Los Angeles ordinance would have gone into effect on August 13, 2022, and the Downey ordinance would have become effective on August 11, 2022.

On June 29, 2022, the Los Angeles City Council (“Council”) approved an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage for people working at “covered healthcare facilities” in the city of Los Angeles (“City”) to $25 per hour.

On December 13, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected the petition of New York health care workers seeking to stop the State from enforcing regulations requiring covered personnel of hospitals, nursing homes, public health centers, and other health care entities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of continued employment, subject to narrow exceptions. The Supreme Court’s unsigned order allows the continuing enforcement of the regulations, as litigation of the multiple lawsuits challenging the statewide vaccine mandate for health care workers issued last August continues.

On April 17, the Joint Commission—a nonprofit organization that provides accreditations to health care organizations—issued a list of seven steps hospitals should take to improve safety and reduce the risk of workplace violence perpetrated by employees, patients, and visitors. While the seven steps are advisory rather than mandatory, health care organizations risk jeopardizing their accreditation status if they fail to take appropriate action in response to episodes of workplace violence.

The Joint Commission’s alert seeks to address what it characterizes as the ...

The United States is in the midst of an unusually lethal flu season, and health experts agree that despite inconsistencies in their effectiveness, flu shots are among the best ways to fight the spread of the flu. A recent holding from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals provides some good news for health care employers who require that their patient-facing employees receive flu shots, making it more difficult for employees to claim a religious exemption.

Courts have held that health care employers may require their patient-facing employees to be vaccinated against a number of ...

[caption id="attachment_2421" align="alignright" width="113"] Valerie N. Butera[/caption]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recognizes that the health care industry is among the most dangerous in the United States (see related story).  Health care employees are more likely to be exposed to various infectious respiratory illnesses spread through airborne and droplet routes, such as tuberculosis, influenza, and pandemics.  Employees who work in or near areas where there are patients suspected of having a disease that can be spread by airborne ...