OSHA Issues Emergency Standards for COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination in the Workplace
November 8, 2021
Press Release
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) issued its much-anticipated COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) imposing requirements pertaining to vaccinations, testing and face coverings on private employers throughout the country.
Which businesses does the ETS apply to? The ETS applies to employers with 100 or more employees, including full-time, part-time, active seasonal and teleworking employees. Independent contractors and temporary employees provided through a staffing agency are not counted by the host employer for purposes of the 100-employee threshold. Employers that are covered by the ETS remain covered for as long as the ETS remains in effect, regardless of whether the employer’s headcount falls under 100 employees during that period. A single corporate entity with multiple offices or locations must include every employee in every facility in their count. On the other hand, separate legal entities that are part of the same family of companies may be counted separately unless their operations are sufficiently intertwined for OSHA to deem them a single employer.
