The Biden administration released a new regulation requiring workers at businesses with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or undergo regular Covid-19 testing. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is issuing the rule through an emergency temporary standard set to take effect on Friday, November 5, 2021. Employers must begin providing time off for workers to get inoculated by December 5, 2021, with workers needing to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing by January 4, 2022. The new standard and related materials can be found here.
Under this federal rule, employer responsibilities also include:
- Determine the vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination status from vaccinated employees, and maintain records and a roster of each employee’s vaccination status.
- Require employees to provide prompt notice when they test positive for Covid-19 or receive a Covid-19 diagnosis. Employers must then remove the employee from the workplace, regardless of vaccination status; employers must not allow them to return to work until they meet required criteria.
- Ensure each worker who is not fully vaccinated is tested for Covid-19 at least weekly or within seven days before returning to work.
- Ensure that each employee who has not been fully vaccinated wears a face covering when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes.
What Do We Do?
We here at Robal are reviewing the standard and here to offer our guidance and assistance. Allow us to help you manage your employee’s vaccine cards in one place. Robal offers a vaccine manager that provides a solution for both employers and employees with our COVID-19 and Vaccine Card Verification. Our credentialing specialists will verify everything for you or you can choose a self-service model. Additionally, we offer a COVID-19 Test Manager which provides weekly COVID-19 tests with self-expiration of 7 days.