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Vax Compliance: A Guide to OSHA ETS for Private Sector Employers

November 8, 2021

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released its COVID-19 mandatory vaccine mandate by the federal government for the private sector under the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). This article will take a quick look at the OSHA ETS and what it means for your company. 

What Does the Policy Say? 

According to the ETS, employers with a workforce of 100 or more employees are to put in place a mandatory vaccine or weekly testing and mask policy. 

Generally, these COVID-19 company policies should comply with the ETS, OSHA’s prohibition against retaliation for reporting workplace illnesses or injuries, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines, and the criminal penalties associated with knowingly supplying false statements or documentation.

Which Companies Aren’t Covered? 

While employers with 100 or more employees must meet the ETS requirements, some businesses do not fall under the mandatory policy. They include: 

  • Employers/employees under the Safer Workforce Task Force COVID-19 Workplace Safety

  • Healthcare workers already under the existing healthcare ETS

  • Employees working from home or exclusively outdoor 

What Are the Effective Dates of the ETS?

The ETS mandates that employees must complete all the policy requirements aside from the testing for employees who have not completed their primary vaccination doses within 30 days of its publication. 

Also, company management must begin testing of staff members who have not completed the primary doses of their vaccination 60 days after the policy’s publication. 

Are There Any Vaccination Exemptions? 

While every private-sector employer must enforce mandatory vaccinations for all employees under the ETS policy, some members of a workforce may qualify for exemptions. Examples of such individuals include:

  • Workers who have a medical condition that makes it necessary to delay a vaccination

  • Employees who qualify for a reasonable accommodation under US civil rights laws because of religious beliefs, disabilities, etc

  • Staff members who have illnesses with a diagnosis that suggest that they should not receive the vaccine 

What About Paid Time Off for Vaccinations 

The ETS also requires employers to provide paid time off for members of their workforce to get vaccinated and recover from any effects the vaccine may cause.

The stated timeline is four (4) hours at the standard pay rate to get each dose of the vaccine. For the side effects of the vaccination, the OSHA ETS mandates every employer in the private sector to provide a reasonable timeframe and paid sick leave to enable a full recovery. 

Masking and Testing Requirements 

Employees who have not completed their vaccine doses must undergo weekly testing according to the ETS. The policy also does not require employers to pay for the tests. 

Also, a staff member must immediately notify their employer after a positive COVID-19 test and cannot resume work until they meet the return requirements. 

The ETS also requests employees who are not fully vaccinated to wear face masks indoors or whenever they’re in a vehicle with a colleague unless it interferes with work operations. 

Vaccination Records 

According to the ETS, employees must have the following documents on file: 

  • Records of vaccination for each employee regardless of whether they’re fully or partially vaccinated

  • Records of test results provided by each employee

However, businesses who have acquired this information before the ETS policy are not required to do so all over again. Note that these are medical records and should be treated as confidential under the ADA.

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Background Checks in Employment: Planning For A New Hire? – Read This First!

December 8, 2018

What is a background check and why do I need one?

A background check is a review of an employment candidate’s social, criminal, and financial records. Background checks have become standard practice in the employment setting; in fact, up to 70 percent of employers require employees to undergo background checks prior to hiring. 

The reasons employers utilize background checks are numerous and varied. Utilizing background checks allows the employer to find the best candidate by looking into the applicant’s criminal background, education, employment history, civil records, references, among other sources of information. A pre-employment background check has become a matter of necessity as some applicants will “lie, steal and cheat” to impress a prospective employer. For example, an employer may want to ensure that the applicant is telling the truth about their qualifications: to determine if the applicant graduated from college, or worked for a previous employer performing the duties as stated on the application. Background checks can also protect the employer from liability, both civil and criminal. For instance, an employer would want to ensure that the applicant has no record of misconduct pertinent to the business as this could be grounds for a negligent hiring Georgia state law tort claim. Or, the employer may want to verify the age of the applicant to be complaint with child labor laws. An employer must also consider immigration laws and seek to verify the immigration status of its employee.

All in all, the benefits of a comprehensive employment background include:

·      increased applicant and new hire quality, 

·      reduced workplace violence, 

·      reduced negligent hiring liability, 

·      reduced losses from employee dishonesty, 

·      making the right hire the first time, and

·      avoiding negative publicity, among others.

Most importantly, employers have a moral and legal obligation to provide a safe work environment pursuant to state and federal laws like the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). The bottom line is that pre-employment background checks help an organization be more successful; that means greater profits to for-profit organizations and greater impact for non-profits. 

Storm Surges and Flash Flooding: A Few Employment Law Issues During Natural Disasters

September 17, 2018

You are an employer with a a goal set of each hour, day, week, month, quarter and year, maybe 5, 10, 50 years. But natural disasters such as hurricanes do not respect your goals; they are unpredictable and disruptive even to the most efficient workplaces. To minimize the havoc wreaked on your business by the strong storm, a well drafted human resource policy on issues relevant to bad weather is critical. This article addresses two key considerations to remain compliant with the law and to get back to business as soon as possible.

Wage and Hour

A natural disaster often forces a halt in business operations. However, the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not relax or waive its rules during such a period. It requires employers to pay salaried exempt employees during a such a business closure if the employee worked at all during the relevant work week, no matter how briefly. To alleviate the cost to employers, the FLSA permits the employer to require employees to use their accrued and unused paid time off (PTO) during the shutdown. Non-exempt hourly employees on the other hand, may be paid for only the hours actually worked during a business shut down. The FLSA also expects that accurate records of employees’ time worked be persevered in a hurricane-proof format and continue to be kept as employees work through the event.

Employers should prepare clear policies governing this issue well in advance of having to apply its rules

Occupational Safety and Health

The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to provide a safe workplace for their employees. Thus, employers must carefully assess the work space during and after natural disasters to ensure that buildings are structurally sound, hazardous materials are not exposed, amenities such a washrooms, air heating and cooling, first aid are fully functional, electrical wires are not damaged or exposed, mosquitoes and other pathogens are under control, among several other considerations.

OSHA permits employees to refuse dangerous work and to report dangerous working conditions. Dangerous conditions must be reported within thirty (30) days of its discovery and can be made via the OSHA website or over the telephone. Likewise an employee refusing dangerous work must do so promptly, and because OSHA does not recommend abandoning the worksite, the employee must work with management to address her concerns. 

Once again, clear policies on the issue drafted and provided to employees and managers in advance of a natural disaster is preferred.