On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a new, upcoming mandate that requires all employers with 100 or more employees “to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work.” The Biden Administration projects this policy will “impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.”
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) has been charged with the task of developing a rule to implement this new policy in accordance with the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Plan. At the time of this writing, OSHA has not yet proposed a rule.
Nineteen governors and two state attorney generals have indicated they will oppose this mandate. They include the governors of Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Likewise, the Republican National Committee indicated it intends to sue the Biden Administration over this mandate.
Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers will continue to provide relevant updates for healthcare providers on the Health Law Pulse during the COVID-19 public health crisis.