​Employee Vaccine Mandate Update

On September 9th, the White House released a new COVID-19 Action Plan. This plan includes a directive to OSHA to develop an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work.

Latest update:
•             This requirement is expected to impact 110,000 private sector employers and 80 million employees nationwide.
•             The ETS is expected to be issued within the next few weeks. It will be effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register.
•             South Carolina is one of 22 states with an OSHA-approved state plan. This means SC has an additional 30 days to adopt a rule that is at least as 
effective as the ETS.
•             Legal challenges to the vaccine mandate have already been promised, including from Governor McMaster.

Unanswered questions: 
•             Will the rule apply to employers with 100 employees only in one location or multiple locations?
•             Will there be exceptions for employees working from home?
•             Is there adequate testing capacity to accommodate the weekly testing requirements for unvaccinated? And who would pay for required testing?
 
Please don't forget to fill out the survey above to share your thoughts on this mandate.