Biden To Mandate COVID-19 Vaccinations by Large Employers

President Biden announced a new action plan to fight and contain the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus disease.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will develop a new COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) that requires large employers, those with 100 or more employees, to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing before reporting to work. The ETS will also require large employers to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated and recover from side effects associated with the shot. The ETS will impact over 80 million workers in the private sector.

The action plan coincided with the issuance of two executive orders requiring federal employees and contractors, with exceptions for those seeking religious or medical exemption, to undergo COVID-19 vaccination. Federal workers that do not comply will be referred to agencies’ human resources departments for discipline, including potential termination.

In addition to vaccine mandates, the action plan extends masking requirements for interstate travel through January 18, 2022 and doubles fines for those not in compliance, lays out federal support for a safe return to school, and describes steps the Biden administration has taken or plans to take to support economic recovery from COVID-19.

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