91视频

By Nate Beck
91视频 Newswires

Federal officials are requiring contractors and subcontractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8 under a mandate President Joe Biden issued in early September.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week issued guidance for contractors after Biden signed an executive order on Sept. 9 requiring all executive branch workers to get the vaccine, including contractors. OSHA‘s memo stipulates that employees of contractors must be fully vaccinated to do business with the federal government, except in “limited cases” where an employee can legally claim an exemption.

OSHA’s guidance requires federal agencies to include a clause in contracts requiring employees of firms competing for work to be vaccinated — a stipulation that could begin to appear in bid solicitations as soon as Oct. 15. The agency is implementing the requirement through its Emergency Temporary Standard, or ETS, process, which allows OSHA to bypass its own lengthy rulemaking process. The rules would apply to firms with more than 100 employees.

Jason Miller, deputy director for management of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement last week that the new rules are aimed at getting more people vaccinated. Miller said the requirement would “decrease worker absence, reduce labor costs, and improve the efficiency of contractors and subcontractors performing work for the federal government.”

The Associated Builders and Contractors, a mostly nonunion trade group, said while it encourages contractors and their employees to get vaccinated, the new requirement would exacerbate a skilled workforce shortage in the industry and lead to compliance costs for companies.

In a statement Monday, Ben Brubeck, ABC National’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, called the new rules the “most far-reaching standard” ever issued by OSHA. The trade group this week sent a letter to OSHA officials asking the agency to seek input and consider questions before issuing its ETS.

鈥淒espite the efforts of a range of stakeholders, vaccine hesitancy remains an ongoing, complicated reality in countless industries,” Brubeck said. “How the ETS is crafted will have significant, lasting impacts by driving workers away from larger firms and disrupting construction projects without raising the vaccination rate.”

According to guidance from OSHA’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, contractors will be required to collect documentation showing their workers are vaccinated — whether or not an employee works remotely. The guidance also leaves it up to contractors to determine if an employee’s request for an exemption from the rules is legitimate.

Firms must designate a coordinator to oversee compliance with OSHA’s mandates.

“The contractor is responsible for considering, and dispositioning, such requests for accommodations regardless of the covered contractor employee’s place of performance,鈥� according to the memo.

Contractors may be able to claim a limited, 60-day exemption for showing their workers are fully vaccinated if an agency has an “urgent mission-critical need” for employees to work on a particular project.

OSHA’s guidance also requires federal contractors to follow masking rules in areas with high transmission of COVID-19 — including requiring workers to wear masks indoors and practice social distancing.

Federal officials are expected to publish the clause requiring vaccines by Oct. 8. OSHA’s guidance directs agencies to begin including the clause in bid solicitations beginning Oct. 15, and include the language in contracts issued after that date.