In a somewhat surprising turn of events, a three-judge panel from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted the stay on the OSHA vaccine-or-test mandate (the Emergency Temporary Standard, or ETS), which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. While this decision is already being appealed, the ETS could be put on hold once again. We’ll let you know if that happens.
In the meantime, lifting of the stay means that the ETS is in immediate effect and employers should prepare to comply. Initially, the first compliance deadline was December 6 (for policies, notices, masking, vaccination status, etc.), and employers were supposed to begin testing unvaccinated employees by January 4. However, OSHA recognizes that compliance in such a short time frame is not feasible for many employers.
As a result, OSHA said the following about enforcement:
“To provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for non-compliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard. OSHA will work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance.”
Compliance in SDP Connect
We are excited to announce that with our latest 21.7 system update, SDP’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tracking Module in SDP Connect is officially live.
To help you meet your vaccine-tracking compliance obligations under the ETS, this module will allow you to:
- Track vaccination statuses in our secure and HIPAA-compliant system
- Easily export to CSV or PDF for reporting
- Have employees upload their vaccine status or COVID test results directly into the system from their Employee Self-Service (ESS) portal
- Automate reminders for employees to submit their vaccine status or weekly test results
- Simplify tracking of vaccination and testing statuses from within your HRIS portal
Resources
Finally, we encourage you to review OSHA’s informational materials to help you understand your compliance obligations. Keep in mind that they likely haven’t updated the deadlines in the materials yet.
- 28-Minute Webinar
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Fact Sheet
- Three-page Summary of the ETS
- The ETS with Commentary
Let’s Talk
Are you ready to comply with the new vaccine mandate? Let us know in the comments below how your business plans to tackle this new requirement.
If you’d like to learn more about SDP’s COVID-19 Vaccination Tracking module then let’s talk! Tracking in SDP Connect is paperless, automated, and can significantly reduce the burden on your team. Plus, our HR Services Department is always available to answer any additional questions you may have.
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