Earlier today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary nationwide injunction of the contractor vaccine mandate in Executive Order 14042. This injunction will bar the Government “from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) released its much-anticipated COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that their employees are either vaccinated by January 4, 2022, or submit to weekly testing. According to OSHA, employees who are unvaccinated face a “grave danger” from COVID-19, including the more contagious Delta variant. The ETS notes that COVID-19 is highly transmissible—particularly in workplaces where multiple people interact throughout the day often for extended periods of time—and exposure to COVID-19 can result in death or illness, with some individuals experiencing long-term health complications. OSHA has determined that vaccination is the most effective way to protect these employees.
The ETS will take effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register, which is scheduled for November 5, 2021. The ETS will apply in those states where OSHA is responsible for regulating workplace safety and health. Per OSHA regulations, states that have their own OSHA-approved occupational safety and health plans will have 15 days to notify OSHA of the action they will take and 30 days to adopt the ETS or promulgate standards that OSHA considers at least as effective as its ETS.
The OSHA ETS is part of a sweeping policy of the Biden Administration to get more American workers vaccinated. In addition to this ETS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released today a Vaccination Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) requiring workers at healthcare facilities participating in Medicare or Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. Both the OSHA and CMS actions follow on the heels of Executive Order 14042 mandating that certain federal contractors and subcontractors require their covered employees to receive vaccinations against COVID-19, with limited exceptions for those who cannot be vaccinated for legally-protected reasons, and OSHA’s June 10, 2021 ETS directed toward protecting healthcare workers in particular from COVID-19. Our previous alert on OSHA’s June 10, 2021 ETS is available here, and our alerts regarding Executive Order 14042 are available here. OSHA excludes from coverage under the ETS those employers who are subject to the CMS rule or the Executive Order 14042 mandate.
Although the ETS is very detailed—490 pages in all—the key takeaways and deadlines for compliance are below.
Continue Reading OSHA Publishes Vaccine Requirements for Employers with 100 or More Employees
On November 1, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) issued new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for federal contractors that are subject to Executive Order (EO) No. 14042 on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors. The new guidance addresses requests for accommodations, applicability to corporate affiliates, and recommendations for enforcement and compliance. As required by the implementing contract clause, covered contractors are required to comply with this new guidance.
Requests for accommodations: First, the FAQs state that requests for accommodation do not need to be resolved before a covered contractor employee begins work on a covered contract or at a covered workplace. While requests are pending, these employees must follow workplace safety protocols for employees that are not fully vaccinated as specified in the Task Force Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors, which Crowell addressed in client alerts on September 24, 2021 and October 6, 2021. On the other hand, for covered employees that are not vaccinated because they received an accommodation from the covered contractor, agencies are entitled to determine which protocols such employees must follow when they enter a federal workplace. Notably, agencies may determine that mandating the vaccine is the only safety measure available. In such cases, covered employees with accommodations would be unable to work at the federal workplace but the contractor would not be relieved from meeting its contractual requirements. Covered contractors could presumably take the same approach for employees that only or occasionally work at a covered contractor workplace. Additionally, covered contractors should notify their contracting officer when one of their employees who works at a federal workplace has received an exception to the requirement to be fully vaccinated.
Corporate Affiliates: Second, the FAQs clarify that corporate affiliates of a covered contractor that do not otherwise qualify as covered contractors may be covered by the vaccine mandate if: “(i) either one controls or has the power to control the other; or (ii) a third party controls or has the power to control both.” Indicia of control also include interlocking management or ownership, identity of interests among family members, shared facilities and equipment, or common use of employees. Therefore, employees of a corporate affiliate of a covered contractor working at the covered contractor’s “covered contractor workplace” will be subject to the vaccine mandate. Additionally, a facility that is owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by an affiliate that is not a covered contractor will be considered a “covered contractor workplace” subject to the vaccine mandate where an employee of the affiliated covered contractor working on or in connection with a covered contract is likely to be present during the period of performance.
Continue Reading Task Force Issues New FAQs for Contractor Vaccine Requirements
This week’s episode covers the latest on the COVID vaccine requirement for contractors, cybersecurity updates, the DoD Climate Adaptation Plan, and a class deviation relating to certified cost or pricing data, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Monica Sterling. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary
Following President Biden’s announcement of Executive Order 14042 (“EO”) on September 9, 2021, several agencies have issued guidance on the EO’s applicability to the contractor community, which we reported on here. Further to GSA’s September 30, 2021 Class Deviation CD-2021-13, on October 6, 2021, GSA reiterated that a mass modification program for all
This afternoon, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued its Guidance regarding COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (at all tiers), pursuant to President Biden’s September 9, 2020 Executive Order. The 14-page Guidance addresses the following topics:
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a six-pronged plan to combat COVID-19, which Crowell previously discussed here. One prong of the plan is to protect the economy, an aspect of which is the streamlining of the existing Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan forgiveness process.
Under the PPP, loans to small businesses can be
On July 29, 2021, the Small Business Administration announced in an FAQ that it is discontinuing any reliance on the Loan Necessity Questionnaires, which the SBA had required of each borrower, that together with its affiliates, received Paycheck Protection Program loans with a principal amount of $2 million or greater. As we’ve previously discussed,
On July 29, 2021, President Biden announced certain actions to “get more people vaccinated.” The White House announced that “every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which is expected to increase government contracting spend and opportunities for government contracting at the federal, state, and local levels through 2021 and beyond. To facilitate entry into what can otherwise be viewed as a daunting web of regulations and restrictions, Crowell