OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS
On Dec. 17, the 6th Circuit lifted the 5th Circuit’s stay of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard.
Several emergency appeals have already been filed with Justice Kavanaugh, who will make the initial decision whether to stay the 6th Circuit’s ruling (restoring the stay) pending further review.
In the meantime, OSHA has announced a delayed re-start of the ETS enforcement until Jan. 10, and they will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before Feb. 9, “so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.”
It is anticipated that the Supreme Court will issue a decision well in advance of Jan. 10, possibly as early as this coming week, on whether to reinstate the stay pending further review.
Because the stay has been lifted, it is recommended that covered employers do the following:
Federal Contractor COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate:
On Dec. 18, the 11th Circuit kept in place the Georgia court’s nationwide injunction against the federal contractor vaccination mandate. At this time, it is unclear whether the Administration will make its own emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. If they do, ABC will certainly oppose them.
Because the possibility remains that the stay could be lifted without much notice, it is recommended that covered federal contractor employers do the following:
ABC is constantly monitoring and sharing this information as quickly as possible. We are also working with our partners at L&I to better understand and communicate these changes. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Sophia Steele.
On June 11, Gov. Jay Inslee announced further business and employee guidance consolidations and rescissions for some industries. Unless otherwise specified, these industries will no longer need to follow industry-specific guidance. Instead, they will only need to follow general requirements, which include the COVID-19 workplace health and safety measures established by the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). Employers in these categories are required to follow documented COVID-19 plans at least as protective as the L&I guidance found here.
Affected industries include:
ABC is constantly monitoring and sharing this information as quickly as possible. We are also working with our partners at L&I to better understand and communicate these changes. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Tony Incrocci.
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