On 9/9/2021 president Biden ordered OSHA to promulgate an emergency temporary standard or ETS for employers with over 100 employees to require them to be fully vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19. Labor and employment lawyer Robert G. Chadwick lists three reasons why this order has an uncertain future:
- The time lag to write the ETS. When the president ordered an initial COVID ETS it took five months to publish.
- Court challenges based on actual need, paid time off requirements, exemptions and/or limit to large employers.
- Open questions for the ETS about status verification (fake vaccination cards are in circulation), payments for vaccinations and testing, and testing logistics.
Chadwick's post is at https://www.realclearcounsel.com.
The best policy for employers is rather than wait for clarification to adopt their own policies for workplace safety, including vaccination, testing and masking.