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November 4, 2021

OSHA releases new workplace vaccination rules

Yehyun Kim | CT Mirror Patricia Miglowiec, a registered nurse, prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at the Torrington Area Health District.
By Zachary Vasile

Close to two months after President Joe Biden announced his administration would require large employers to get their workers vaccinated or routinely tested for coronavirus infections, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has laid out how the mandate will work.

The new rules require any entity with 100 or more employees to have its workers vaccinated or tested at least weekly. The deadline for full vaccination is Jan. 4, after which any unvaccinated staffer would have to submit to a testing regime and wear a mask to keep their job.

Employers must pay for the time it takes their workers to get vaccinated, and for any sick time as a result of side effects from the shots. They do not, however, have to pay for tests for employees who choose not to get vaccinated, though other laws or collective bargaining agreements could change that in some instances.

Daniel A. Schwartz, a partner at Shipman & Goodwin in Hartford, said the regulations take some pressure off employers, at least from a legal standpoint.

“Employers that follow the OSHA rule and decide to allow for testing will face significantly lower legal challenges to the vaccination mandates,” Schwartz said. “Employers that have mandated the vaccine have faced many employees who seek religious exemptions; this OSHA rule allows employers that choose to avoid that fight altogether.”

Executives, managers and other decision-makers will have to weigh their options under the new standards and decide what works best for them, he added.

“Employers have two months now to figure out what path they want to choose: mandate the vaccine for all or allow for testing,” Schwartz said. “Each has their own pluses and negatives. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Schwartz also noted that employers will now have to survey employees on their vaccination status, which some employers had been avoiding. That information must be kept “to those with a business need-to-know,” he said.
 

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