Legal Focus

At the start of the 2021-2022 school year, 25 states had issued some form of COVID vaccination mandate, while 12 other states issued COVID vaccination mandate bans. Then on November 4th, OSHA published its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) mandating COVID vaccinations for large employers, which was followed by a court ordered stay of enforcement issued on November 12th. As federal, state, and local government agencies continue to issue vaccination laws and policies, it is critical that contract...

COVID-19 has created an entirely new workplace safety issue within the purview of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”). While workplace safety has always been an important focus of the school bus industry, employers must now consider how they are handling their own internal protocols with regard to the coronavirus. If an employee raises a COVID based workplace safety concern, employers should be aware of possible OSHA implications when responding to such complaints. This ...

As a number of regions across the country begin to experience a surge in coronavirus cases due to new variants, employers and local, state, and federal governments have begun to mandate vaccines in some capacity. Recently, the Biden Administration announced that they have directed the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to create a new rule which requires private employers with at least 100 employees to ensure that their employees are vaccinated or receive weekly Covid-19 testing. Addi...

As kickoff to the 2021-2022 school year is right around the corner, there are a number of lingering concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many contractors are left wondering: What are the guidelines for wearing masks? Can I require my employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine? And what can I do about the shortage of drivers? Continue reading below for a recap on these specific issues. Click Here to Read More

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, views about mask requirements have been a divisive issue highlighting the competing interests of individual freedoms and public policy, against a background of conflicting views about the spread and mortality of the coronavirus generally. This is complicated by the fact that mask requirements may come from federal, state, or local sources; and is complicated even further by the dichotomy of vaccinated and unvaccinated people sharing public space. Thi...

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. 29 U.S.C. § 2101 et seq., passed in 1988, requires employers to provide employees with advanced notice of mass layoffs or plant closings. The advanced notice requirement is intended to help displaced workers find new employment, and there are significant penalties against employers for non-compliance. But, the notice requirements could be triggered in situations where a school district changes from one contractor to another. This...

Many Pennsylvania contractors are paid based on “the formula”. But Contractors are often unsure exactly what that means or how the payment according to the formula is calculated. This article is intended to explain the basic elements of “the formula” as a starting point for contractors who want to better understand this critical part of their transportation contract.Click Here to Read More