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ARTICLE · 09 NOVEMBER 2021

OSHA Issues Long-Awaited COVID-19 "Emergency Temporary Standard"

Ward and Smith, P.A
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Yesterday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") of the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL"), at long last, issued an "Interim final rule"...

United StatesCoronavirus (COVID-19)
S. McKinley Gray, III
S. McKinley Gray, III
Grant B. Osborne
Grant B. Osborne

Good (and Not So Good) Things Come to Those Who Wait

Yesterday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") of the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL"), at long last, issued an "Interim final rule" regarding the scourge of COVID-19 and what large employers will be required to do about it. The rule includes "an emergency temporary standard ('ETS') to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees) from the risk of contracting COVID-19 by strongly encouraging vaccination."

Timing

The "effective date" of the ETS is today, November 5, 2021, but the "compliance date" for most of the initial obligations in the ETS is 30 days after the effective date, meaning December 5, 2021 (see specifics below).

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