3. Trade unions sue OSHA over lack of standard for infectious diseases

Improving the safety regulations for workers at risk of infectious diseases was big news in 2020, as states fought to create emergency rules and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration reiterated its general duty clause requiring employers to provide safe workplaces. [19659002] It was not enough for a coalition of unions representing education, health care and municipal workers that on October 29 sued the US Secretary of Labor and OSHA for the lack of an official standard to protect workers from infectious diseases.

The News of the Trial, filed at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, was the third most read article on employee compensation on the Business Insurance website 2020.

The Trial ̵

1; American Federation of Teachers; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Washington State Nurses Association; and the United Nurses Association of California v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration; United States Department of Labor; Eugene Scalia – tells years of delays in creating a standard that would provide employers with guidance for managing outbreaks of infection.

The appellants asked the court to compel OSHA to proceed in a "rapid manner to issue a standard quickly." So far, however, there has been no movement on the suit, but a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Labor wrote in an email to Business Insurance on October 30 that "the department is committed to protecting America's workers during the pandemic and OSHA has been working around the clock for this purpose."

Meanwhile, states have made some progress. On July 15, Virginia became the first state to created its own temporary emergency standard, developed by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industries.

No. 4 most read story.

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