12/7/21, 3:36 PM Jeb Boyt on LinkedIn: President Biden's COVID-19 Plan | The White House

Join now Sign in

Jeb Boyt

Jeb Boyt
3mo
· Edited
On September 9th, President Biden announced new steps to address the C-19 pandemic that will impact
large employers as well as federal contractors and subcontractors.
The President has directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop a rule to
require all employers with more than 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated
or require unvaccinated workers to provide weekly negative tests. This will be done through the
development of an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that will take effect immediately and be made
available for public comment in the Federal Register. Following comment, the ETS may be adopted as a
permanent standard. An ETS may be challenged by filing suit in an appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals.
Several entities are threatening such litigation.
What does this mean now for large employers? First, OSHA must issue an ETS for large employers to
require vaccination or testing. Then, lawsuits will likely be filed. Then, there will be comment on the ETS
(assuming rulemaking is not suspended by a court). This will all take a while to play out. The bottom line
is that large employers are not under any current mandate to take action on vaccines or testing. But,
such a requirement is now pending.
The President has also issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for
Federal Contractors. Federal agencies are now required to include in contracts a clause that the
contractor and any subcontractors (at any tier) specify compliance with guidance from the Safer Federal
Workforce Task Force. The Task Force has until September 24th to provide definitions of relevant terms
for contractors and subcontractors, explanations of required protocols, and any exceptions. The Task
Force is made up of the White House C-19 Response Team, the General Services Administration, the
Office of Personnel Management, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the Department of
Veterans Affairs, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Protective Service, the Office
of Management & Budget, and the U.S. Secret Service.
So, if you are a federal contractor or subcontractor this requirement will be included in any new contracts
or contract amendments. The impact of this order on existing contracts is unclear at this time. But, this
order is a clear statement of the federal government’s expectations for contractors and subcontractors
going forward.
https://lnkd.in/duGtgidp
https://lnkd.in/dc2khAhT
https://lnkd.in/dsENFy7K
#immunization #employmentlaw

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeb-boyt-9a0643_president-bidens-covid-19-plan-the-white-activity-6842129579641974784-iUYf 1/5