Member Forum Recap January 2022

 COVID, OSHA, DORA, Advocacy  and What to Expect in 2022!

Hosted by IECRM on Wednesday, January 12, 2022

IECRM is honored to provide our members with value-rich forums that pertain to our industry. Below you will find a bulleted recap of the discussion and helpful links to resources.W

Watch the VIDEO RECORDING of this week’s forum: IECRM Member Forum: COVID, OSHA, DORA, ADVOCACY & What to Expect in 2022! 

If you have any questions to ask of our subject matter experts or suggestions for future Member Forums, please contact IECRM CEO Marilyn Akers Stansbury at [email protected]. or 303.853.4886.

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS:

• Kristin White, Attorney at Law
  Fisher & Phillips, LLP
  [email protected] | O: (303) 218-3658 
  https://www.fisherphillips.com/offices-denver

NEW UPDATE:  IEC Scores Victory Before Supreme Court on ‘Vax-orTest’ Mandate (January 13, 2022)

“This afternoon, the United States Supreme Court sided with IEC and blocked the vaccine-or-test mandate for employers with 100 or more workers. The Court voted 6-3 that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) “lacked authority to impose the mandate,” and that the decision should be left up to Congress. IEC members impacted by the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) are now free from having to comply with this rule which also means OSHA will not be able to promulgate the ETS’s requirements through regular rule-making against all employers. This is a major victory for IEC and all of its merit shop electrical contractors since it was still possible for the final rule to be expanded to all employers, regardless of size.”  – IEC Capitol Connection

RELEVANT RESOURCES

• NEW UPDATE:  Supreme Court Strikes Down OSHA’s Vaccine ETS: An Employer’s 6-Step Priority List (1.13.22)
• Comprehensive FAQs for Employers on the OSHA Vaccine Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS)
• Current Status of ETS and Employer Recommendations
• Medical and Religious Accommodations
• Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, Wage Protection Rules (effective January 1, 2022)
• “Healthy Families and Workplaces Act” – rules as of January 1, 2022 (“INFO: #6A”)

Where we are on vaccine mandates on the Federal level?

• OSHA ETS only applies to those with 100 or more employees.  It went into effect on Monday.
• Speculating that the opinion will be released tomorrow, January 13, be SCOTUS.
• What’s in effect?
  • Gathering vaccine status from employees.
  • Have your policies in place.
  • Show good faith efforts that you are trying to be in compliance.
  • The SCOTUS could rule only on the stay and let the 6th Circuit Court rule on the merits.
  • The SCOTUS could also do it on the merits case.  It’s really up to them if they will do that or not.
• What’s in place in Colorado?  Recommendations?
  • Get vaccine status and have copies of vaccine cards (OSHA wants copies of the cards on file).
  • Be aware that even if the rule is struck down, we go back to the guidance issued by OSHA last year.  It can still be enforced through the General Duty Clause.  
  • Have your policies in place now on what your precautions are to keep employees safe from COVID.

Member Questions on Forum:

• Q:  Will this get extended for companies with less than 100 employees?
  • Likely they are working on a permanent standard for communicable illnesses
  • For companies with less than 100, they don’t need to comply with all of the OSHA standards. It is  still wise to do contact tracing and have the information about who is/is not vaccinated.
• Q:  Will employees with religious or medical exemptions granted by their employer be required to give copies of these forms to OSHA and how are they going to treat these? 
  • Religious and medical exemptions – not likely that OSHA will question these exemptions granted by employers.  
  • Most of the religious exemptions to the vaccine are granted, but testing is then required.  If they do not agree to testing, this may be seen as a safety issue for other employees.
• Q:  Does the 30-year documentation requirement apply to gathering employees’ vaccination cards and records? 
  • This will not apply to the vaccine or testing records.  Only need to be kept during the time of the ETS.
• Q:   For paid sick leave, is there a minimum number of employee’s on the payroll for this law  to be applied?
  • Paid Sick Leave requirement in Colorado (Healthy Families) is a law put in place by the legislature. 
  • Now all employers in Colorado have to provide 48 hours of paid sick leave. That time can also be rolled over to 2022.  
  •  ALL employees get the 48 hours regardless of if they are full time or part time.
  • You can write your policy that has it capped at 48 hours. Once they begin using it, they will begin to accrue hours again with a 48-hour minimum requirement. 
  • Public Health Emergency Leave is still in effect (80 hours one-time bucket) while the Federal state of emergency is in effect. 
  • Employee gets to deduct from supplemental (COVID only) time first before pulling from their 48 hour paid sick leave.
• Q:  Do we have to provide Public Health Emergency paid leave to employees hired after 01/01/2021, or is it only for active employees as of the beginning of the PHE? 
  • It applies to ALL employees regardless of when they were hired.
• Q: Will employers be reimbursed for providing the Colorado Public Health Emergency Leave? 
  • Not this year. 
• Q: Are the hours for sick leave the same for a full-time and part-time employee?

 It’s an accrual basis.  

• One hour for every 30 hours worked.

• Q: As employees accrue throughout the emergency, does the supplemental time owed decrease? 
  • Yes
• Q: If you offer paid time off, does that get used as your sick pay or does that need to accrue separately? 
  • If you offer PTO, you can have in your policy notice language that says  (Section 3.5) you have enough PTO to cover it.  
  • Notice language needs to be in the policy.
  • Be sure you are updating employee handbooks regularly with all new policies.

DORA Reporting Requirements for OJT/Practical Experience and Classroom Training Hours

• Senate Bill 20-120 
  • Electrical Apprentices – Beginning January 1, 2021, electrical apprentices who have been registered for at least six years must take the Journeyman Electrician’s examination at least once within each three-year renewal period for electrician licensees. Specifically, each electrical apprentice must test once within each of the following timeframes and continue to test during each future three-year licensing renewal cycle: January 1, 2021 to September 30, 2024 and October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.
• NOTES:
  • New law requires that apprentices who have been registered in the State of Colorado for more than six years must take the Journey workers test. If they pass, they are then required to complete their 288 classroom hours and 8000 OJT hours if they’ve not already done so. Required to retest every three years in conjunction with the NEC code cycle. 
  • Effective January 1, 2022, annually contractors and apprenticeship training programs (like IECRM) are required to submit OJT and training program hours to DORA.  Training programs submit education hours, while Contractors submit the OJT hours to the State.
  • For apprentices enrolled in the training program through IECRM, the Flashpoint system can be used for tracking and reporting OJT hours. Flashpoint also tracks completed training class hours for apprentices which IECRM will use for reporting schooling hours completion. 
  • IECRM will work with DORA on providing ways for contractors to submit these hours in an efficient manner.
  • Emily Griffith is now also requiring IECRM to submit OJT hours.
  • OJT hours are separate from the 288  required hrs of schooling.
  • IECRM is working on an FAQ to clarify the requirements, respond to contractor questions and provide a quick reference guide for how to enter apprentice hours and submit to contractor employer for approval in Flashpoint. 
• For additional reference: 
  • Senate Bill 20-120: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb20-120
  • DORA Required Annual Reporting of Apprentice Classroom Hours and Practical Experience:   https://dpo.colorado.gov/Electrical/ExperienceReporting?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
  • At-A-Glance Q & A Document – This IECRM document is in progress and will be available on the IECRM.org website in Member Resources the week of January 17, 2022.