The McConnell-Cornyn "liability protection" proposal is pretty radical. Not only would it block lawsuits over COVID exposure, it would make it just about impossible for OSHA to enforce basic workplace safety laws. They couldn't even dole out the tiny fines they've been doing.

I guess they need to make sure Smithfield doesn't get hit with another monster $13,494 fine after some workers die from coronavirus.

The proposal would also protect corporations from enforcement/lawsuits related to a host of other employment laws: FLSA (wage theft), WARN (notice ahead of layoffs), Civil Rights Act and ADA (discrimination)

To be clear, this stuff comes from the McConnell-Cornyn text from the summer that, far as we know, they are still standing by. Here is the relevant section:

If you're wondering what the hell wage theft has to do with the pandemic.... Workplaces have had to make a lot of changes (temperature checks, donning/doffing new equipment etc) and workers might not get paid for that time. That's how the FLSA ends up in here.

As you can see from the text, the bar to clear for immunity looks awfully low -- employers have to have been aware of govt guidelines (toothless CDC recommendations, basically) and making an effort. You could drive a truck sideways through the phrase "exploring options to comply"

Important context when it comes to workplace safety... There's a lot of pressure on Biden to quickly institute an emergency safety standard thru OSHA for COVID-19. If this language became law, it would it would make such a standard close to unenforceable.

Update: Senators released a bipartisan plan today that would shorten the length of the shield from ~5 yrs to ~2 yrs but the summary language tracks closely to what McConnell wants on OSHA and other federal laws. Manchin was only Dem on board with that.