A federal appeals court ruling has given the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) a green light on its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring workers to be vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19 at private companies with 100 or more employees. On Friday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier court decision that had temporarily halted the ETS. In response, OSHA announced intentions to resume implementation of the ETS on a modified schedule.
The Sixth Circuit Court ruling has already prompted a flood of appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, which the Biden Administration must respond to by December 30. In the meantime, businesses with 100+ employees should be prepared to comply with OSHA’s new timeline.
By January 10, 2022:
- Develop COVID-19 vaccine policy and disseminate to employees
- Determine employee vaccination status, obtain proof of vaccination, and maintain employee vaccination records and roster
- Require face coverings for unvaccinated workers when indoors or in vehicles with other employees
- Provide up to four hours of paid leave for employees to receive each vaccine dose and reasonable paid sick leave for recovery after each dose
- Make available aggregate data that includes total number of employees and total number of vaccinated employees at each workplace
By February 9, 2022:
- Implement weekly COVID-19 testing protocol for all unvaccinated workers; maintain and preserve testing records for as long as ETS remains in effect
Both PCR and antigen tests are acceptable - Employers are not required to pay for testing or provide paid time off for testing
OSHA issued the following statement on its website: “To provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.”
For more detailed information about the OSHA Vaccine and Testing ETS, read NATA’s executive summary. NATA will continue to monitor this situation and keep you informed of further developments.