OSHA

NYC’s Latest Expansion of its Vaccine Mandate – What You Need to Know

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Author: Laura Friedel

On December 6, 2021, NYC mayor Bill DeBlasio announced that all private-sector workers in the city will be subject to the vaccine mandate, effective December 27. The following day, however, Judge Frank P. Nervo in the Supreme Court of New York suspended the mandate pending a hearing scheduled for December 14, 2021. If upheld, the mandate requires two vaccine doses, unless a person received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, and will impact 184,000 businesses.

Mayor DeBlasio’s action closely followed action in Florida where a new standard technically permits vaccine mandates, but only if employees are permitted to opt out by submitting an exemption statement on one of five grounds (medical, religious, COVID-19 immunity, compliance with regular testing at the employer’s cost, of agreement to comply with reasonable PPE requirements). The new NYC and Florida requirements are just the latest in a string of state and local regulations around vaccine mandates (some requiring, some prohibiting, and some finding a place in the middle).

Earlier this year, an OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) was issued. The ETS would require vaccination or weekly testing for employees of employers with 100 or more employees, but this requirement is in flux while courts hash out arguments regarding its enforceability. On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay the ETS, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit now has jurisdiction over the ETS legal challenges. The Department of Labor has filed a motion to lift the stay entered by the Fifth Circuit, but in the meantime, OSHA has suspended implementation and enforcement of the ETS.

With the ETS in limbo and local jurisdictions implementing their own vaccine mandate requirements, businesses around the country are wondering what this means for them. The following are three recommendations to keep in mind:

  1. Consider local rules and regulations regarding vaccine mandates. In large part, your obligations will depend on where your employees are located and whether you are a government contractor or in the health care industry. If the ETS becomes effective, it will preempt state and local requirements that don’t go as far to require vaccines (such as in Florida), but until then, state and local requirements limiting employers’ right to require vaccines will prevail.
  2. Make a decision internally as to whether, if the ETS becomes effective, you will offer testing as an option for all or only for those who can’t get vaccinated for medical, religious, or similar reasons. Also, think about how you plan to conduct testing (such as requiring employees to get tested on own and turn in proof or testing employees on-site).
  3. Remind employees that management is following the situation and urge employees to get vaccinated now. Businesses can send a letter to their employees letting them know that the company is monitoring the new rules, including state and local requirements and the OSHA ETS, and that you will be following any rules that are enacted in your jurisdiction. As such, employees are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated now so that they are in compliance if/when it becomes effective. Additionally, if testing only will be offered to those employees with a bona fide need for an exception, you should let them know that they need to request an accommodation by a specific date so that the company has enough time to review the requests.

If you have any other questions regarding COVID-related mandates or other COVID-related issues, a member of our Labor & Employment Group would be happy to speak with you.

OSHA Issues Updated COVID-19 Guidance

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Author: Becky Canary-King

TheOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued new guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of coronavirus in the workplace. The guidance outlines best practices and recommendations for employers to identify risks of being exposed to and of contracting COVID in workplace settings. OSHA’s recommended steps to implement a COVID prevention program include:

  • Assign a workplace coordinator for COVID
  • Conduct a hazard assessment to identify where and how workers might be exposed to COVID and eliminate or implement control measures to reduce workplace hazards
  • Educate workers on COVID policies and procedures, establish a system of communicating to workers in a language they understand, and encourage two-way communication
  • Instruct infected or potentially infected workers to stay home
  • Perform enhanced CDC-compliant cleaning and disinfecting
  • Appropriately record and report COVID-19 infections
  • Make the COVID-19 vaccine available at no cost to all eligible employees. Require vaccinated employees to continue to follow protocols, as there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission of the virus from person-to-person.

Like previous OSHA guidance, this is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations for employers. Rather, employers are required under the General Duty Clause to provide their workers with a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

COVID-19 OSHA Recordkeeping: What If an Employee Tests Positive?

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In an interim guidance issued late last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed that COVID-19 is a recordable illness under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements. Thus, employers are responsible for recording a case of an employee with coronavirus if:

  1. the case is a “confirmed” case of COVID-19
  2. the case is “work-related”
  3. the case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR § 1904.7

A confirmed case means an individual with at least one respiratory specimen that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

The definition for work-related is changed for most employers to make this determination easier. For employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations (e.g., emergency medical, firefighting, and law enforcement services), and correctional institutions, employees must continue to make work-relatedness determinations pursuant to 29 CFR § 1904. For all other employers, a COVID-19 case is considered work-related only if:

  1. There is “objective evidence” that a COVID-19 case may be work-related. For example, a number of cases developing among workers who work closely together without an alternative explanation; and
  2. The evidence was “reasonably available” to the employer. Reasonably available evidence includes information given to the employer by employees, and information an employer learns in the ordinary course of managing its business and employees.

This policy is intended to allow employers to focus their efforts on maintaining safe workplaces, rather than making difficult work-relatedness decisions.

There are number of considerations for managing your workplace after an employee tests positive. Levenfeld Pearlstein is available to advise through every step in the process.

OSHA COVID-19 Poster on Safety in the Workplace: What Do I Need to Know?

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Yesterday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a new poster which highlights ten infection-prevention measures employers can take to reduce risk of exposure to coronavirus in the workplaces. The poster is not required to be posted in the workplace, but employers may find it a useful reminder for employees.

Safety measures listed on the poster include encouraging sick workers to stay home; providing places to wash hands; discouraging workers from using other workers’ phones, desks and other work equipment; and regularly disinfecting surfaces, equipment, and other elements of the work environment.

The poster is available for download in English, or Spanish.