A message from Eastman & Smith:
OSHA Issues Highly Anticipated Emergency Temporary Standards, Requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations or Weekly Covid-19 Testing for Large Employers
A little more than two months ago, President Biden called on the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to issue an emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) to control the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
On November 4, 2021, OSHA issued the highly anticipated COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS, which requires employers with at least 100 employees to implement either a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy or a policy that allows employees who choose not to be fully vaccinated to undergo COVID-19 testing and report results every 7 days and wear approved face coverings while at work. According to OSHA, the ETS increases protections for more than 84 million workers from the spread of COVID-19 at work. The key provisions of the ETS are outlined below.
What Does the ETS Require?
Covered employers must establish, implement, and enforce either a written mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy or a voluntary COVID-19 policy that allows employees to either choose to become fully vaccinated or both provide proof of regular COVID-19 testing and wear face coverings while at work.
When Must Employers Comply?
The ETS is effective immediately upon its publication in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021. The ETS provides that employers must require employees subject to a vaccination mandate policy to receive their final vaccination dose no later than January 4, 2022, which is also the deadline by which unvaccinated employees who are not subject to a mandatory vaccination policy must begin providing proof of regular testing to enter the workplace. The ETS also requires employers to comply with the other requirements of the rule, including masking for all unvaccinated workers and providing paid time off to receive vaccinations within 30 days of publication, by December 4, 2021.
