Large employers will be required to mandate the vaccine or require weekly testing.

By Ty West  –  Editor-in-Chief, The Business Journals, Sep 9, 2021 

The Biden administration on Thursday said it will order large employers to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine or require weekly testing for unvaccinated workers.

The requirement, which will come in the form of a rule from the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will apply to all employers with 100 or more employees.

OSHA will issue an emergency temporary standard to implement the requirement, which is expected to impact over 80 million workers in private-sector businesses.

According to The Wall Street Journal, businesses that fail to comply could face a fine of up to $14,000.

The order is part of a multi-pronged plan to combat the effects of Covid-19 that is set to the unveiled by the White House on Thursday afternoon. Additional components include mandating the vaccine for federal employees and federal contractors, expanding at-home testing access, and more.

The new vaccination requirements for large employers come at a time when an increasing number of employers were pursuing mandates or penalties to encourage vaccinations.

Many businesses have been hesitant to implement a mandate due to concerns over turnover – given the tight labor market – and impact on company morale.

Experts have told The Business Journals the federal government could ease the burden on businesses by issuing an order that encourages additional mandates.

However, employment law attorneys say companies will need more clarity on this rule than what they’ve been receiving from the federal government thus far during the pandemic.

Prior rules and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OSHA and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have left gray areas and unanswered questions that have caused headaches for employers and limited their options.

One of the biggest questions will be around specifics of the rule as it pertains to exemptions, which have proven to be a challenging area for employers that already implemented mandates.

Labor & Employment lawyer Paula Ketcham, a partner at Schiff Hardin, said the rule will almost certainly require employers to accommodate workers who refuse to be vaccinated based on a medical condition, disability or religious belief.

“Employers that have already implemented a vaccine requirement probably have also already developed and implemented a protocol for processing disability and religious accommodation requests from employees who refuse to be vaccinated – and if not, they probably should have,” Ketcham said. “Other affected employers – those with more than 100 employees who have not implemented a vaccine requirement – will want to get started planning for how they will process and respond to accommodation requests.”