OSHA recently announced it will proceed with a highly focused, short-term initiative directed at various healthcare facilities that provide care to or handle COVID-19 patients.
This post provides basic information on employee vaccination mandates issued at the federal and statewide levels. State laws curtailing private employer vaccination programs are also noted.
Effective March 1, 2022, there is no longer a hard requirement under the Cal/OSHA statewide Emergency Temporary Standard or any other statewide requirement for employers to require unvaccinated or fully vaccinated persons to mask indoors at work.
The Wisconsin legislature appears poised to reject a proposal to create a medical marijuana program this legislative session, just a month after the Senate shot down a proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
On February 9, 2022, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state is largely discontinuing the mandate that businesses require proof of vaccination or masks to enter the premises.
On January 26, 2022, OSHA withdrew its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which required large employers to ensure that their employees either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to grant emergency relief to stay implementation of the OSHA ETS regarding COVID-19, Illinois employers were left wondering whether they were still required to implement a vaccinate or test policy.
On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted emergency relief to stay implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) regarding COVID-19.
On December 31, 2021, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi issued Executive Order No. 2021-87 (EO) requiring first responders and certain private sector personnel to receive the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in order to be considered fully vaccinated.
The Puerto Rico Department of Health has updated its Protocol for COVID-19 Case Management in the Workplace to help prevent exposure and provide recommendations for case management in the workplace amid the spread of the Omicron variant.
