18 Jurisdictions Have a Mask Mandate in Place, While 15 Jurisdictions Have Prohibited State or Local Mandates. The Remaining Jurisdictions Have No Mandate in Place

NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

What: Back to Office (BTO) Trends

Why: With new COVID-19 cases up by over 100 percent in the last 14 days, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. has assembled the latest state law requirements related to mask mandates, vaccine passports and employer liability.

• Mask Mandate: As of August 9, of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories, 18 jurisdictions have some form of mask mandate in place, while 23 jurisdictions have no mask mandates, either because no mandate was imposed, or because a mandate was lifted or allowed to expire. Fifteen jurisdictions prohibit state or local governments from imposing mask mandates.
• Vaccine Passport: In addition, as of August 9, 2021, only three jurisdictions—Hawaii, Louisiana, and New York—have implemented a COVID-19 vaccine passport, while 20 jurisdictions have banned all or some proof of vaccination requirements. Ten states have enacted legislation prohibiting proof of vaccination, while the other ten states have banned proof of vaccination through executive order, with most of the prohibitions applying only to government agencies. However, there are broader prohibitions in Texas and Florida, where private businesses are barred from requiring proof of vaccination.
• Employer Liability: As of August 9, 2021, 40 U.S. jurisdictions have enacted legislation or issued an executive order imposing some limitations on liability for COVID-19 transmission. Perhaps the most common feature of shield laws is to provide a shield against liability for ordinary negligence and require that a plaintiff show gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

Who:Cathleen Calhoun, Legal Analyst; Pamela Wolf, Sr. Legal Analyst

Cathleen Calhoun, J.D., is a health law legal analyst at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. with areas of expertise in health care compliance, Medicare benefits and coverage, health care reimbursement and more. Cathleen can give insight on the importance of keeping track of state law requirements and ways to keep employees safe, healthy and comfortable when returning back to office.

Pamela Wolf, J.D., is a senior employment legal analyst at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. who tracks and analyzes employment issues including White House and federal agency developments, federal regulations, court decisions, state and federal legislation, and labor and employment trends. Pamela can discuss the important steps and questions employers should consider when it comes to developing back to office COVID-19 policies and protocols for their employees.

"With the rise of the delta variant of the coronavirus causing more COVID-19 cases, mask mandates remain in some form in about a quarter of the U.S. states," said Calhoun.  "In the past month, even though the number of states or jurisdictions with some form of vaccine passport has remained at three—Louisiana, New York, and Hawaii—both Connecticut and the District of Columbia have now joined Illinois and California in pending, developing, or supporting private sector use of vaccine passports. Employers should monitor possible state and local changes in those jurisdictions." —Cathleen Calhoun, Legal Analyst.

"With bans on vaccine passports and mask mandates in some states, managing COVID-19 spread has become increasingly difficult for employers, even where there are liability shields," added Wolf.

Contact: To arrange an interview with Cathleen Calhoun, Pamela Wolf or other legal experts from Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory, U.S. on this or any other legal related topics, please contact Linda Gharib: lrusmedia@wolterskluwer.com 

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare; tax and accounting; governance, risk and compliance; and legal and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Linda Gharib
Director, Brand & Communications
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962
Email: lrusmedia@wolterskluwer.com 

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SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.