While the COVID-19 crisis has seemingly upended the entire world, the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming brighter with each passing day. This is great news for businesses across the country. Yet, in the wake of the pandemic, organizations will need to adapt to a number of fundamental workplace changes.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into the final months of 2020, there’s a general sense of optimism within the medical community that a vaccine will be approved for use in the foreseeable future. While the prospect of a vaccine is exciting to most, it also presents challenges for employers, who may be considering whether vaccination will be encouraged or mandated.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continuously provides employers and workers with information and guidance on the evolving coronavirus pandemic. Recently, OSHA published two additional answers to its list of COVID-19 frequently asked questions (FAQs). The new answers clarify when employers must report COVID-19 in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to impact businesses across the country, a growing number of confrontations have occurred when workers attempt to enforce their establishment’s COVID-19 prevention policies. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued new guidance instructing employees not to force any customer who appears upset or potentially violent to comply with their workplace’s COVID-19 prevention requirements.

With an unprecedented number of Americans working from home as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, employers have become increasingly aware of a new threat—cyber criminals seeking to capitalize on COVID-19. Cyber scammers will pose as charities or legitimate websites to lure victims into sending money, revealing personal information, or unwittingly disclosing sensitive data that could compromise their employer’s security.

The American economy has experienced an unprecedented downturn as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Decreased revenue has forced many employers to consider laying off workers to save costs. However, with layoffs comes the inherent risk of being sued by a terminated worker.

The fact that nearly all stay-at-home orders resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted is great news for nonessential businesses across the country. However, returning to normal business operations will in itself be a challenge.

As the coronavirus continues to disrupt lives and businesses around the globe, many of our customers have raised concerns about whether their commercial insurance protection covers COVID-19-related losses. The short answer is, “it depends.“