Source: Factset
Companies can require vaccines only of employees returning to the workplace, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said.Credit.John Muggenborg for The New York Times
At the urging of business groups, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has made clear how companies can issue vaccine mandates to workers coming back to the office, and what incentives those employers can offer to promote inoculation.
Companies can require vaccines only of employees returning to the workplace, and not those who work outside the office, the E.E.O.C. said in guidance released on Friday. But doing so still counts as a mandate, so companies must give the same legally required considerations that companywide vaccine requirements would entail, like making accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for employees who can’t receive the vaccine. That means allowing for exceptions for those who may be unable to take the vaccine for health reasons, like an allergy.
The pickup in inflation is coming as rebounding demand and supply shortages push costs higher.Credit.Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Prices are climbing at the fastest pace since 2008, a key index released on Friday showed, an increase that is sure to keep inflation central to economic and political debates.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis’ personal consumption expenditure inflation measure climbed 3.6 percent in April from the prior year the strongest reading in 13 years and more than the 3.5 percent gain that economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected.
The core price index, which strip out volatile food and fuel prices, rose 3.1 percent in the year through April the fastest pace since 1992. Prices rose 0.7 percent compared with the prior month, the biggest increase in two decades.
Retailers, Restaurants and Theme Parks Lift Mask Rules: Live Updates
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Source: Factset
Starbucks has announced that masks will be optional for vaccinated customers as of Monday, unless local regulations require them.Credit.Eze Amos for The New York Times
Target on Monday joined a growing list of retailers, restaurants and theme parks that will allow fully vaccinated customers to go mask free, following new coronavirus safety guidance from the federal government last week that said vaccinated people rarely transmit the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday took many businesses by surprise when it said that people who are vaccinated could go maskless in most places, including indoors. For businesses, the announcement was complicated by the fact that C.D.C. guidance does not override state and local rules. But several major companies have already moved to relax mask requirements. Businesses for the most part have not said they would require custo