OSHA updates employer mandate compliance dates following court ruling

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration updated the compliance dates for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees following a court ruling allowing it to proceed.

Details: After a federal appeals court on Friday reversed a separate court’s stay of enforcement that halted the mandate, OSHA said on its website that it will not issue:

• Citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the emergency temporary standard before Jan. 10.

• Citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before Feb. 9, so long as employers exercise reasonable, good-faith efforts to comply.

More: OSHA said it will work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance with the standard, which mandates that covered employers require their employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly.

Outlook: Republican state attorneys general and other groups, who argue OSHA lacks authority to issue the mandate, have said they will seek a review of the ruling and appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Resources: ICBA offers a summary of the employer vaccine mandate. Additional resources are available on ICBA’s Pandemic Response webpage.