In another action that is only likely to further confuse covered employers, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has lifted the stay on enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate, issued on November 5, 2021, in the form of an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), requires employers with 100 employees or more to adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies or require employees to submit to weekly testing.
The ETS was almost immediately enjoined from going into effect by the Fifth Circuit, which was the first federal appeals court to rule on one of the many legal challenges filed around the country claiming the ETS is illegal. Those challenges were subsequently consolidated and by random selection ended up before the Sixth Circuit. The Sixth Circuit panel’s ruling on December 17 lifting the Fifth Circuit’s stay is the controlling ruling for now, but the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in with the final word as early as the first week in January. Until then, OSHA is moving ahead with enforcing the ETS, albeit with slightly extended compliance deadlines.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.