Biden vaccine mandates set to go into effect in DAYS: OSHA completes review to require companies with more than 100 employees to make staff get a shot
- The Biden administration is preparing to implement a new federal rule that will require companies to have a vaccine mandate for workers
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration could release new rule this week that would put requirement in affect
- The rule will require employers to provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated and to recover from any side effects
- Business leaders are asking the administration to put off the mandate until after the holidays
The Biden administration is preparing to implement a new federal rule that will require companies to have a vaccine mandate for workers.
Last month, President Joe Biden asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to write rules that would require companies with more than 100 employees to mandate coronavirus vaccinations or weekly testing for those with an exemption.
OSHA has finished writing the rule and the administration expects it could go into affect as soon as this week, CBS News reported.
The rule will require employers to provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated and to recover from any side effects.
But business leaders are asking the administration to put off the mandate until after the holidays.
The Biden administration is preparing to implement a new federal rule that will require companies to have a vaccine mandate for workers
Biden pushing for any company with over 100 employees has to have workers vaccinated or tested weekly
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation, the American Trucking Association and the Retail Industry Leaders Association are asking the White House to give businesses 90 days to comply with the mandate.
This would delay implementation until late January at the earliest.
OSHA, which falls under the Labor Department, delivered its final draft of the rule to OMB on October 12. The mandate is expected to take effect shortly after the review process is completed.
Some companies have already implemented their own timeline for the mandate in anticipation of the rule going into effect and the Labor Department beginning oversight on the issue.
Besides trucking, retailers are also concerned the mandate could trigger resignations in an industry also short on workers, according to a lobbyist at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Evan Armstrong.
‘It has been a hectic holiday season already, as you know, with supply chain struggles,’ Armstrong told CNBC after a meeting with White House officials last Monday.
‘This is a difficult policy to implement. It would be even more difficult during the holiday season.’
The Biden administration argues any labor shortages are related to post-pandemic issues and not to any vaccine mandate.
‘The labor shortage coming out of the pandemic and then dealing with that, but it’s not due to vaccine mandates or requirements,’ White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.
Biden vowed earlier this year that he would never implement a vaccine mandate on private industry, but broke that promise last month in announcing the new mandate.
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