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On January 21, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety that calls for a government review of worker safety standards for COVID-19.
The Executive Order directs the Secretary of Labor to issue revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic within two weeks. It further directs the Secretary of Labor to consider emergency temporary standards on COVID-19 and issue those standards by March 15, 2021.
The Executive Order calls for a review of enforcement efforts previously undertaken by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and to identify any changes that could be made to better protect workers and ensure equity.
DOJ Announces FY 2020 Fraud and FCA Recovery Statistics: What They Mean for 2021, January 20, 2021, Matt Feinberg and Camilla Hundley
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it recovered more than $2.2 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and the False Claims Act (FCA) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 (ending September 30, 2020). DOJ’s FY 2020 fraud and FCA recovery statistics report accompanied the announcement. With a global pandemic that often delayed proceedings, the $2.2 billion in recoveries was DOJ’s lowest haul since 2008. Although the announcement and report revealed a significant decline in recoveries relative to FY 2019,
DOJ’s 2020 fraud and FCA statistics confirmed that the FCA remains an effective enforcement tool about which government contractors and companies that do business with government contractors should be wary in 2021 and beyond. Read more here.
President Biden signs Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety, directing the federal government to take swift action to reduce the risk that workers may contract COVID-19 in the workplace.
01/25/21
Jon L. Gelman
Within hours of his inauguration, President Biden moved swiftly to direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to promulgate an emergency standard to protect workers from COVID-19. The President signed an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety on January 21, 2021.
Policy
“Ensuring the health and safety of workers is a national priority and a moral imperative. Healthcare workers and other essential workers, many of whom are people of color and immigrants, have put their lives on the line during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It is the policy of my Administration to protect the health and safety of workers from COVID-19.