On September 9, 2021, President Biden directed the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a regulation requiring organizations with 100 or more employees to ensure their employees are either “fully vaccinated” or test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week. OSHA will announce an emergency rule in the coming weeks in the form of an Emergency Temporary Standard, just like Cal/OSHA did several months ago. The regulation also will require covered employers to provide paid time off to employees to get vaccinated and recover from side-effects. Employers who fail to comply will be subject to hefty fines. Many health-care employees are already covered by OSHA rules that require them to implement various COVID-19 prevention strategies.

There is a lot we don’t know…but clearly the President is becoming more aggressive about COVID-19 prevention strategies.

Stay tuned!