OVERVIEW:  Employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors must ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or require unvaccinated workers to produce weekly negative COVID-19 test results. These employers will also be required to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated or for workers to recover from any vaccine side effects. The vaccination requirements are part of the President’s six-prong, comprehensive national strategy outlined in a White House Fact Sheet.

NEW VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS:  President Biden announced on Thursday, September 9, 2021, that he is directing OSHA to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that will require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated or that the unvaccinated employees produce a negative test weekly before coming to work. The ETS will also require these employers to provide paid time off for their employees to get vaccinated or to recover if they are “under the weather post-vaccination.” The ETS will be issued without any formal opportunity for comment, and no timetable has been announced.

In addition, the President signed an Executive Order directing federal government employees to be vaccinated within 75 days or be terminated. He is also extending the federal employee vaccination requirement to employees of federal contractors.

Finally, the President directed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to take action to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements including but not limited to hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies.

OPEN ISSUES:  There are numerous open issues including whether some of these initiatives exceed the President’s authority as well as timing and how obligations will be implemented for employers and federal contractors.

FortneyScott attorneys will continue to monitor developments and update you as soon as additional information is available. Feel free to reach out to any of the FortneyScott attorneys with questions.