Today Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is announcing an expanded version of its COVID-19 State & Federal Compare Smart
Chart
which is focused on “return to work” issues. New areas of coverage focus on a wide range of back to office content and caselaw related to the pandemic, accessible for all Cheetah and Cheetah for Corporate Counsel subscribers. The new back to office content compares corporate and local health policies on topics such as vaccination requirements, face mask and shield requirements, social distancing and capacity limitations, specific restrictions by type of business.
“The latest updates to the Smart Chart come at a critical time as vaccination rates continue to climb, companies develop official back to office policies, and state and local jurisdictions set different mandates around COVID-19 precautions,” said Ken Crutchfield, Vice President and General Manager of Legal Markets for Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. “As the legal landscape around this topic continues to shift, the expansion of the Smart Chart provides legal professionals with the necessary tools to drive value for their organizations by helping advise on how to open businesses back up safely while ensuring compliance with law.”
In early 2020 as world marched toward home confinement, Wolters Kluwer posted their first COVID resources on the open web for the legal community. This expanded to include COVID news coverage, primary sources and expert analysis (March 2020), a COVID-19 State and Federal Jurisdictional Compare Smart Chart on the open web (April 2020); Families First and CARES Act Law with explanation and analysis publication (May 2020); COVID-19 Smart Chart and complementary COVID-19 resources dashboard on Cheetah and Cheetah for Corporate Counsel. For the past year they continued to maintain and enhance the COVID-19 resources dashboard and that smart charts.
“Back to office” emerges as the hot topic
Rising vaccination rates has put more pressure on employers to define and articulate their policies on bringing staff back to the office safely. Nonetheless the back the office trend and COVID-19 issues continue to drive litigation. In response to these developments Wolters Kluwer is announcing the release of new and expanded “back to office” resources.
The Wolters Kluwer COVID-19 Resources Suite Insights into Fortune 500 back to office policies:
- Analysis of COVID and back to office issues and trends
- Noteworthy COVID caselaw trends
- Quick access to CDC and State Health Department policies and recommendations to assist those crafting their own back to work plans
- State and Federal Jurisdictional Compare Smart Chart
- One place to watch for trends emerging at the state and local level to facilitate assessment of operational risk across multiple jurisdictions
New Back to Office Smart Chart will be updated weekly and include:
- CDC and State Department of Health Policies and Recommendations
- Corporate Policies
- Face Mask and Shield Requirements
- Restrictions by Type of Business
- Social Distancing and Capacity Limitations
- Vaccination Requirements
COVID Litigation Smart Chart
- Smart Chart covering notable judicial decisions covering the a variety of COVID related topics:
- Personal Injury and/or Wrongful Death
- Employment, Worker’s Compensation, and/or Wrongful Termination
- Business Interruption Insurance
- Privacy Protections
- Reimbursement Disputes
- Shareholder Disputes
- Travel Industry
Trend Analysis
Emerging of Back to Office trends will be published via the COVID-19 news feed and social media. Trend reports will include analysis of:
- Which states continue to mandate masks at the state and local level
- Which no longer have state and local level mandates
- Which states do not have a state-wide mandate but have local mandates
- Corporate counsel are trusted business advisors, not simply legal advisors, and therefore are crucial contributors to back to office business decisions.
- Company Policies – Insights from Fortune 500 companies will provide key insights as corporate counsel create their own company policies.
- Noteworthy Caselaw – Litigation trends allow corporate counsel and law firm attorneys to proactively address and mitigate risks.
- State and Local Trend Information – Corporate counsel and law firm attorneys often must manage issues across multiple jurisdictions so having a single source of up-to-date information will save time as they drive value for their organizations and clients while ensuring legal compliance.
