Topline
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will begin penalizing large private employers who do not comply with the contested federal Covid-19 vaccine-or-test rule on January 10, it said in a statement Saturday.
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Key Facts
OSHA released the statement after a federal appeals court on Friday reversed another court decision blocking the Biden administration’s order for private employers with 100 or more employees to require their workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo weekly testing.
Under the rule, which applies to around 84 million workers, unvaccinated workers must keep their masks on indoors.
The rule does not apply to employees who work remotely or outdoors, among others whose job does not require them to come into close contact with other people.
Just over half of working U.S. adults support employer vaccine mandates, according to an Axios/Ipsos poll, though the degree of support varies significantly depending on their party affiliation, vaccination status and age.
The rule faces lawsuits from businesses and GOP-led states that are fiercely against it, while companies like Boeing, Disney and General Electric have moved to suspend vaccine requirements.
Chief Critic
Eric Schmitt, the attorney general of Missouri and a GOP Senate hopeful, wrote, “Overnight, we asked the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately halt the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate on private employers.” He went on to say, “This was always destined to go to the nation’s highest court.” In response to Friday’s decision, the National Retail Federation, a trade group that has sued to stop the mandate, said in a statement, it was “disappointed” in the ruling and would “consider additional legal options.”
Key Background
Before the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling Friday, a different appellate court in November temporarily blocked OSHA’s vaccine-or-test rule. The rule was initially set to take effect on January 4. Florida is one of several GOP states where the state legislature has made vaccine mandates illegal. Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation banning private employers, government entities and schools from imposing vaccine mandates. Small businesses that violate the law are subject to a fine of $10,000 per employee violation and $50,000 per employee violation for companies with more than 100 workers.
Big Number
250,000. That’s the estimated number of hospitalizations the administration expects the vaccine-or-test rule to prevent, the New York Times reported. It also expects 22 million people to receive Covid vaccines as a result of the rule.
Further Reading
OSHA vaccine mandate penalties to start Jan. 10 (Associated Press)
Biden Shot-or-Test Enforcement to Begin in January, DOL Says (Bloomberg Law)
Appeals Court Restores Biden’s Vaccine-Or-Test Mandate For Large Employers (Forbes)
Boeing drops vaccine mandate for U.S. workers, joining Amtrak and other major federal contractors (Washington Post)
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