As you may be aware, on Friday, December 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dissolved the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS). OSHA can now once again implement this vital workplace health standard, which will protect the health of workers by mitigating the spread of the unprecedented virus in the workplace.
To account for any uncertainty created by the stay, OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion with respect to the compliance dates of the ETS. To provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard. OSHA will work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance.
For more information, please refer to OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS webpage, which provides access to the regulatory text, fact sheets, a pre-recorded webinar, sample policies, frequently asked questions, and links to related Department of Labor (DOL) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resources.