Emerging Employment Issues in the Healthcare Industry: What Healthcare Employers Need to Know Now

Compliance with ever-changing employment laws is among the most challenging feats for any organization. Healthcare employers are no exception. As the landscape for healthcare employers continues to evolve, recent increases in workplace violence, whistleblower lawsuits and uncertainty created by regulatory “moving targets” bring mounting exposure and potential liabilities for healthcare employers in 2024 and beyond.

Join us as Carmen J. Cole and William J. Kishman from our Labor & Employment Practice Group and Healthcare Industry Group unpack some of the weightiest employment law issues affecting the healthcare industry and what employers in the space can do now to practically and effectively mitigate risk.

Topics will include:

1. Identifying and complying with new workplace and antidiscrimination laws, including the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act and the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act.
2. The rise in labor unions representing doctors, including when doctors may join labor unions, rules about union activity in places patients receive care and other union-related developments in healthcare.
3. An examination of the uptick in workplace violence and what healthcare employers can (and, in some cases, are required to) do to keep their workforces safe.
4. An update on job accommodation requirements, including a deep dive into how courts are applying last year’s new standard for religious accommodations, Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, which revised the standard for claims involving job transfers, and what employers can learn as courts continue to rule on COVID-19-era failure-to-accommodate claims.
5. Noncompete and unfair competition developments, including the status of the Federal Trade Commission’s rule prohibiting certain noncompetes, other new laws affecting noncompetes in healthcare and how healthcare employers can manage these challenges.
6. A discussion of current legal requirements, implementation strategies and best practices regarding mental health training and accommodations for employers operating in the healthcare industry.
7. The post-pandemic increase in safety-related whistleblower complaints in the healthcare industry and what employers can do to prevent, respond to and navigate such complaints.
8. The latest rules affecting when consultants, service providers and other contractors trigger employment-related obligations.
9. Other recent new healthcare-specific rules, such as the CMS’ minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities and new pay requirements for certain healthcare employees.

Please look out for the next webinar in our series on October 29: Navigating the Wage and Hour Minefield: Critical Updates for In-House Counsel.