President Biden announces COVID-19 vaccine mandates for certain employers

October 2021 employment law letter

Authors:

Albert L. Vreeland, Lehr Middlebrooks Vreeland & Thompson, P.C.

On September 9, 2021, President Joe Biden unveiled his COVID-19 action plan. Here are some details of particular interest to employers.

Key targets

Federal contractors. President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) requiring all federal workers and many federal contractors to be vaccinated. The action plan provides no alternative for COVID-19 testing in lieu of vaccination.

Larger employers. The action plan also directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to:

Ensure their workers are fully vaccinated; or
Force any unvaccinated worker to provide proof of a negative test on a weekly basis.

As part of the ETS, OSHA will require covered employers to provide paid time off (PTO) for the time it takes for workers to get vaccinated or recover if they are under the weather after the shots.

Healthcare employers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most healthcare settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, including but not limited to hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies.

Continue reading your article with a HRLaws membership