A new decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit refusing to block Maine’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers over religious-freedom claims could bode well for OSHA’s impending general-industry vaccine standard, but attorneys say any such case is still likely to go to the Supreme Court.
OSHA is warning three states that it could withdraw their state plan status unless they craft COVID-19 protections for healthcare workers, arguing that all three have failed to adopt counterparts to the agency’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) and thus violated the mandate to maintain programs “at least as effective” as federal standards.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has started stakeholder meetings on OSHA’s upcoming emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 vaccination, and several industry groups tell Inside OSHA they have used their sessions to raise concerns on implementation and recordkeeping requirements in the rule.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit could soon decide whether changes in state and federal workplace safety guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic have rendered moot litigation over employers’ alleged failures to comply with earlier safeguards, as it weighs new arguments in Amazon workers’ suit over warehouse conditions.
OSHA has sent its hotly-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine emergency temporary standard (ETS) for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review, signaling the administration could soon enact its mandate for large private-sector employers to set strict vaccination requirements for their workers.
The country’s largest nurses’ union is calling on OSHA to step up enforcement of its COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) for healthcare, arguing that a recent survey of hospital conditions shows widespread noncompliance with key provisions of the ETS, including on testing and protective gear, in its first month of implementation.
Two workplace legal experts say OSHA’s forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine rule appears likely to pass “constitutional muster” based on current legal precedent but warn that if litigation over the issue reaches the high court its outcome could be less certain if the conservative majority decides to reexamine those prior decisions.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is floating a draft permanent COVID-19 worker-safety standard that aims to provide more compliance flexibility and streamlined requirements compared with its pandemic emergency temporary standard (ETS), in part by incorporating some core elements of the policy into its existing Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP).
Retail industry groups are asking OSHA to address a variety of “vital concerns” in its COVID-19 vaccine rule, warning that President Joe Biden’s plan raises questions on how the agency will consider issues like employee classifications, exemptions and testing costs, and are further seeking a 90-day phase-in period to ease those challenges.
Industry attorneys say they expect OSHA’s forthcoming rule on COVID-19 vaccination to offer employers the “option” of mandating vaccines for workers rather than offering weekly tests as an alternative, among other potential details they say are likely based on statements from President Joe Biden and agency officials.