OSHA issues COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards
On November 4th, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement President Biden’s vaccine mandate stating that employers with 100 or more workers must require COVID-19 vaccinations or a weekly negative test result before coming to work. The implementation of the vaccine mandate will impact more than 80 million workers in private sector businesses nationally.
According to Emily M. Dickens, SHRM Chief of Staff, and Head of Government Affairs & Corporate Secretary the top take-aways from the ETS are:
- Employees must be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022, and employers must require unvaccinated employees to mask and produce a negative test on at least a weekly basis.
- Employers are required to have a written vaccination policy.
- The OSHA ETS does not apply to employees who do not report to a workplace where there are other individuals such as coworkers or customers are present; employees working from home, or employees who work exclusively outdoors.
- The OSHA ETS does not require employers to provide or pay for tests.
- Employers must pay employees for the time it takes to get vaccinated.
- Employers must ensure all unvaccinated employees are masked.
- Employers must report COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations to OSHA.
- The OSHA ETS reaffirms that employers must provide reasonable accommodations.
- According to the Department of Labor (DOL), vaccine, testing and face-covering requirements preempt inconsistent state and local requirements.
For more information, visit COVID-19 Healthcare ETS | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov).
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