OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Standard

As of January 4, 2022, all companies that employ 100 people or more must comply with the Federal Department of Labor Covid 19 Vaccination Standard. The standard will be enforced under OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard.

Deadline is Jan. 4: The first rule, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, covers companies with 100 or more employees, applying to an estimated 84 million workers. Companies must ensure that their workers are either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or that they test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week. The rule will take effect as soon as it's published in the Federal Register.

Workers must get paid time off to get vaccinated: Under the OSHA rule, employers must pay workers for the time it takes to get vaccinated and provide sick leave for workers to recover from any side effects.

Employers don't need to pay for testing: The rule does not require employers to pay for or provide testing to workers who decline the vaccine. However, collective bargaining agreements or other circumstances may dictate otherwise.

OSHA inspectors will mostly respond to employee complaints and add COVID-related inspections to their to-do lists when they are already on-site at a workplace. Employers who violate the rule can face fines of up to $13,653 per violation for serious violations and 10 times that for willful or repeated violations.

The OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on Vaccination and Testing generally requires covered employers to establish, implement, and enforce a written mandatory vaccination policy (29 CFR 1910.501(d)(1).



Let Hudson Valley Safety Associates develop your OSHA mandated vaccine and testing policy.