COVID-19 laws are changing rapidly and unpredictably. This past Friday, December 17, 2021, a federal court in Ohio surprisingly reversed a nationwide injunction against federal OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccinate-or-testing mandate for large employers (i.e., employers with 100 or more employees). Thus, effective last Friday, the federal OSHA rules (the “Rules”) are back in effect. A copy of the Rules is available here.
And OSHA quickly reacted to the news, announcing that on January 10, 2022, it will begin issuing citations for non-compliance (one exception: testing, whose citations’ commencement date has been pushed to February 9, 2022). A copy of OSHA’s announcement is here.
It is possible that the U.S. Supreme Court will step in and enjoin these Rules before OSHA metes out penalties for non-compliance. But we cannot be confident about that. So, in the meantime, we advise employers:
- Review and re-acquaint itself with the Rules;
- Decide if they wish to implement a vaccine mandate (if not, employers will have to implement a mandatory testing-and-face covering policy at work);
- Prepare written vaccination-or-testing policies in conformity with OSHA’s Rules (happily, OSHA has provided templates here and here); and
- Stay tuned for additional updates.
For more information, please contact us at info@mnklawyers.com.
This material is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor does it create a client-lawyer relationship between MNK Law and any recipient. Recipients should consult with counsel before taking any actions based on the information contained within this material.
