US Government Unveils Employer Covid Testing and Vaccine Rules

Many large businesses have already mandated vaccination for their workforces but these rules will establish a consistent set of requirements across the economy that will impact 80 million employees. JL

Stephanie Armour and Sabrina Siddiqui report in the Wall Street Journal:

A set of new vaccine requirements by the Biden administration will cover more than 80 million employees. Companies subject to the rules must ensure that employees who aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19 produce a negative test at least weekly and wear a mask in the workplace. Employers aren’t required under the new policy to provide or pay for tests, with potential exceptions if collective bargaining agreements compel them to do so. Employers who don’t adhere to the requirements could face penalties of up to around $13,600 per violation.

Many employers will have to ensure by early 2022 that their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid-19 under a set of new vaccine requirements by the Biden administration that will cover more than 80 million employees.

The requirements released Thursday by the Labor Department implement a vaccine directive that President Biden announced in September. They take effect Jan. 4 and apply to employers with 100 or more employees. While the administration has said the requirements are necessary to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, they have drawn opposition from many Republicans.

Companies subject to the rules must ensure that employees who aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19 produce a negative test at least weekly and wear a mask in the workplace. Employers aren’t required under the new policy to provide or pay for tests, with potential exceptions if collective bargaining agreements compel them to do so.

Employers who don’t adhere to the requirements could face penalties of up to around $13,600 per violation.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in more than 46 million cases in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“A virus that has killed more than 745,000 Americans, with more than 70,000 new cases per day currently, is clearly a health hazard that poses a grave danger to workers,” a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Republican opposition to the policy has intensified since September, when the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it would issue an emergency temporary standard implementing the new requirements.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in September filed a lawsuit against Mr. Biden’s Covid-19 requirements for businesses and a set of rules for federal contractors. Many other states have also sought to challenge the administration’s mandate for federal contractors.

“Under our Constitution, the President is not a king who can exercise this sort of unbridled power unilaterally,” Mr. Brnovich said in his legal brief.

Sens. James Lankford (R., Okla.) and Mike Braun (R., Ind.) and 39 colleagues issued a statement Wednesday saying they disapprove of the vaccine requirement for employers.

“This unacceptable federal directive impacts tens of millions of Americans and warrants review by Congress, the representatives elected by the American people to make the laws,” the lawmakers said in a statement.

Employers subject to the new rules must require each vaccinated worker to provide proof of vaccination status, federal officials said. When documentation can’t be obtained, a signed and dated statement from the employee attesting to his or her vaccination status is permitted.

The OSHA rules require those employers to provide paid time off to workers so they can receive the Covid-19 vaccine, as well as sick leave to recover from any side effects, and to ensure that unvaccinated employees wear a face mask while in the workplace by Dec. 5.

Mr. Biden has said he was reluctant to issue vaccination requirements and did so after a monthslong campaign encouraging people to get the shot failed to persuade many Americans.

The administration also sought to give employers cover to issue vaccine requirements since some were concerned that workers in a tight labor market might quit and go to other companies without an industry standard, two people familiar with the planning said.

Many large businesses, including Walt Disney Co. and meatpacker Tyson Foods Inc., hospital groups, and colleges and universities, have already implemented Covid-19 vaccine requirements. The Biden administration has also made Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for all federal employees and contractors, as well as U.S. service members.

“We’ve been patient,” Mr. Biden said in a message to unvaccinated Americans while announcing the requirements in September. “But our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us.”

The administration on Monday released guidance on the mandate for federal contractors, which has been a factor for many large companies imposing vaccination requirements.

The administration also said that staff at all health facilities that get Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements will have to be vaccinated, following up on emergency vaccination requirements announced in September. Both health workers and federal contractors will have until Jan. 4 to get either their second dose of the vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc., or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson.

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Inspectors will review whether hospitals are in compliance as part of their routine survey process, which can ultimately lead to civil monetary penalties for violators and termination from the two federal programs.

Health workers with medical conditions or religious reasons not to get vaccinated can seek an exemption, but there isn’t an option for testing in lieu of vaccination. A senior administration official said hospitals that have mandated vaccines haven’t seen mass staff departures.

The Biden administration has discussed the pending vaccine requirements with trade groups in recent weeks, including the Associated Builders and Contractors.

About 80% of the U.S. adult population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the CDC. About 70% of adults are fully vaccinated.

Slightly under 40% of workers who are unvaccinated said they would leave their job if getting the Covid-19 vaccine was mandated by their employer or if they were required to be tested for the virus weekly, according to survey results from the Kaiser Family Foundation Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor.