Briefcase

Large firms to pay for time off for jabs

WASHINGTON – The federal government will require companies with at least 100 workers to provide paid time off for employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and paid sick leave to recover from effects of the shots, a Biden administration official said Monday.

Those requirements will be part of a pending federal rule that will spell out how large employers will meet a requirement that workers be vaccinated or tested regularly for the virus.

The White House budget office has completed its review of the rule being written by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is expected to be released this week.

The rule – issued under emergency standards to respond to the pandemic – will cover firms with 100 or more employees, regardless of how many are located in any particular spot.

Coca-Cola makes bet on BodyArmor

Coca-Cola Co. is making a multibillion-dollar bet on the sports drink brand BodyArmor as part of a larger push to diversify its offerings.

Coke said Monday it paid $5.6 billion for the remaining 85% of BodyArmor. Coke originally bought a 15% stake in the BodyArmor in 2018.

Coke confirmed BodyArmor is its largest-ever brand acquisition. The deal is part of a multiyear effort at Coke to move beyond sugary soft drinks and into other categories like juices, enhanced waters and sports drinks. Coke bought the Fairlife milk brand in 2020 and Costa coffee in 2019.

Atlanta-based Coke said it will manage the BodyArmor brand as a separate business. It will continue to be based in New York.

Link to Epstein sinks British bank exec

The chief executive of British bank Barclays stepped down Monday following a report by United Kingdom regulators into his past links with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Jes Staley has previously said he “deeply regrets” his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself at a federal jail in New York in August 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial. There is no suggestion that the 64-year-old Staley knew anything about Epstein’s alleged crimes.

Staley said he will contest regulators’ preliminary conclusions, which were shared with him and the bank Friday. The report by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority examined the way Staley characterized his relationship with Epstein to Barclays when he was Epstein’s private banker in his previous job at U.S. investment bank J.P. Morgan.

Details of the report have not been released, and both regulators have refused to comment.

U.S. manufacturing growth slows

WASHINGTON – U.S. manufacturing growth slowed in October amid growing headaches from supply chain bottlenecks and labor shortages.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity dipped slightly to a reading of 60.8% in October, 0.3 percentage points below September’s 61.1%.

Any reading above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. But the ISM report noted that manufacturers and suppliers were dealing with an unprecedented number of hurdles in their efforts to meet rising demand.

From wire reports