Suspense is over: What employers should do first in response to OSHA’s vaccine rules

After the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its much-anticipated emergency temporary standard (ETS) addressing COVID-19 vaccinations and testing on November 4, we undoubtedly expected legal challenges and possible injunctions to follow. Nevertheless, the ETS contains certain requirements covered employers should begin addressing immediately.

Broad coverage

Unlike other OSHA standards that count employees on an “establishment” basis, the ETS covers any private employer with 100 or more employees across the entire company. The broad definition is much more inclusive and will affect many more employers than many previous agency standards. Part-time, full-time, and remote employees are all included in the count.

The new ETS applies to all employers with 100 or more employees except for those covered by either President Joe Biden’s executive order (EO) on “Safer Federal Workforce Task Force COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors” or a separate healthcare ETS.

13 action steps for employers

First and foremost, covered employers must develop, implement, and enforce a policy to address the ETS. It can be either (1) a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy or (2) a policy requiring employees to elect either to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing and wear a face covering at work.

As part of a policy that would comply with the ETS, employers must do each of the following: