OSHA is suspending enforcement of the government’s new employer vaccine rule

According to the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, it has decided to suspend its enforcement of the New rules of the Biden administrationLarger employers being required to vaccinate their employees against “emergency temporary Standard”Or, you can undergo weekly testing.

OSHA posted the announcement to its website. It also stated that it “remains confident” in its authority and ability to protect workers in emergency situations. 

After Friday’s federal appeals court hearing, the agency has decided to cease implementing and enforcing new rule. ReaffirmedAn earlier version Temporary suspension by the Biden Administration of its vaccine rule and ordered OSHA to stop enforcing or implementing the regulation. 

The future of the government directive is uncertain. The case is currently being heard by the Sixth Circuit Court of Ohio. According to the National Law Review, this court contains a majority Republican-appointed judges. 

Across the nation, businesses are still pondering what this means to their business. new vaccine ruleThis is a 490-page order that has complex requirements. Experts warn that it will take time to ensure compliance. Employers with more than 100 employees must decide whether to have their workers fully vaccinated by December 5 or undergo weekly testing.

By January 4, those businesses must implement the rule — a timeline that doesn’t provide employers much leeway if the Sixth Circuit upholds the rule. Employment attorneys stated that they encourage businesses to comply with the deadline because it is so tight. Moving forward with compliance to avoid being caught unprepared if the regulation, also called an “emergency temporary standard” (or ETS), withstands legal challenge. 

“A stay is not a determination of the merits of the ETS itself — a stay is a technical, procedural tool to prevent something from happening,” said Chuck Kable, chief legal and HR officer at Axiom Medical, a company that provides occupational health services, on a conference call to discuss the status of the regulation. He stated that the government would respond by saying, “We want the play button to go, not the pause button” and asking for the stay to be lifted.

It’s possible that the temporary halt to the regulation could be lifted, reaffirmed or partially lifted, said Holland & Knight partner and OSHA expert Gina Fonte. 

Fonte stated, “Generally, the legal profession has been advising client, ‘You have to be ready’.” “Would it be possible to be alive if the court says that everything is back in order tomorrow?”

December deadline

Kable believes the Ohio court will decide on the stay in the next few weeks, though not before December 5, deadline. However, the issues surrounding the temporary stay should be resolved before employers meet the January 4 deadline to implement the new COVID-19 regulations. 

“Obviously people are confused, concerned — they don’t know what to do,” he added. Kable stated that a prudent employer would take steps to prepare in the event that the ETS is allowed to move forward.

Companies that fail to comply with the COVID-19 order could face stiff fines — almost $14,000 for each employee who fails to comply with the rule and up to $136,000 for businesses that are found to be in “willful violation” of the requirements.

Kable stated that the case against OSHA’s legal authority to create and enforce ETS could take several months to resolve and will likely end up before the Supreme Court. 

“Don’t draw any inferences from OSHA saying they are suspending enforcement — they have to because a court said they have to,” he added. “I have read the briefs and my personal opinion says that the arguments made by the government are strong, rational arguments.”