With the Supreme Court’s consideration of challenges to the OSHA and CMS vaccine mandates making headlines, less attention has been paid to the federal contractor vaccine mandate even though it remains a separate topic of continuing interest for many.
On January 18, 2022, New Jersey’s Public Works Contractor Registration Act was amended to give the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development authority to audit federally regulated apprenticeship programs.
On the evening of December 17, 2021, the Sixth Circuit dissolved the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the federal OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which imposes “vaccinate or test” requirements for private employers.
On December 7, 2021, a federal court in Georgia issued an order enjoining the president, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, and 18 executive agencies and departments from enforcing the vaccine mandate that was established for federal contractors.
On November 18, 2021, the Biden administration resurrected an executive order first issued by President Obama that the Trump administration had subsequently rescinded.
A federal court has issued an order granting a preliminary injunction to block the enforcement of the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.
On November 15, 2021, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi issued Executive Order No. 2021-075, which integrates prior COVID-19-related orders still in effect and, notably, includes vaccine/testing requirements for employers with over 50 employees.
