After what has seemed like a very long wait, OSHA has finally published its Emergency Temporary Standard regarding President Biden’s Vaccine mandate today. Here are the key takeaways for employers:

Covered Employers

  • All employers with 100 or more employees (even if the relevant state says otherwise), with a few exceptions:
    • Federal contractors/subcontractors (covered by a separate rule)
    • Certain healthcare workers (covered by a separate rule)

Deadlines

  • December 5, 2021
    • Covered employers must have developed and distributed to employees a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy, along with other key documents and information.
    • Unvaccinated employees must be masked.
  • January 4, 2022
    • Employers must have determined each employee’s vaccination status and obtained records to support that status.
    • Unvaccinated employees must be vaccinated.

Opt-out

  • In lieu of requiring vaccination, employers may instead include in their policy the option for employees to provide, on a weekly basis, evidence that they have obtained a negative test for Covid-19.
  • Employers who enact such a policy are not required to pay/reimburse the employee’s costs of testing.

Paid Time Off

  • Vaccination – Unvaccinated employees are to be given up to four hours of paid time to receive each vaccination dose.
  • Side Effects – Employees who receive a vaccination and experience side effects must be given a reasonable amount of paid sick leave to recover.

Sample Policies

OSHA has provided sample policies for employers who do not want to reinvent the wheel:

Strong & Hanni is happy to advise employers with questions.  For more information, please contact Matt Harrison at 801-323-2082 (email: mharrison@strongandhanni.com) or Michael Stanger at 801-323-2128 (email: mstanger@strongandhanni.com)