On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from COVID-19.
On January 7, the Supreme Court had heard oral arguments on the ETS COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates (National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Department of Labor, OSHA (No. 21A244) and Ohio v. Department of Labor, OSHA (No. 21A247). The cases had reached the Supreme Court following differing opinions by appeals courts in the 5th and 6th Circuits.
The ETS would have covered employers with 100 or more employees that are under OSHA’s authority and jurisdiction (86 F.R. 61402, 11-5-21). The ETS would have required employees who were not vaccinated to wear a face mask at work. Employees who were not fully vaccinated would have had to undergo COVID-19 testing at least weekly.
To learn more about federal and state laws, regulations, and information to keep your company's payroll operations in compliance, check out Payroll Source Plus!
Jyme Mariani, Esq., is Managing Editor of Payroll Currently and Senior Manager of Payroll Information Resources for the APA.