A federal mandate for COVID-19 vaccination and testing for employers that have 100 or more employees is reportedly close to release following a review from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The OIRA issued a notice that it had completed its final analysis on Monday following a three-week review, which Bloomberg Law notes is typically the final formal process completed before making a rule public.
"On November 1, the Office of Management and Budget completed its regulatory review of the emergency temporary standard. The Federal Register will publish the emergency temporary standard in the coming days," a Department of Labor spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.
"Covered employers must develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, unless they adopt a policy requiring employees to choose either to get vaccinated or to undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work," the spokesperson added.
This standard will also compel employers to provide their employees with paid time off so they can get vaccinated, as well as paid sick leave if they develop side effects and need to recover.
The White House says on the webpage for President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan that OSHA "is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work."
"OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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