Today, Jan. 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued a stay of enforcement of the federal government’s vaccination mandate applicable to employers with 100 or more employees.
The Court found that the mandate exceeded the government’s authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH), noting that the OSH Act “empowers” the government to set “workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.” The Court concluded that “[r]equiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees” was akin to a public health measure, rather than a workplace safety rule and thus was not authorized by the OSH Act.
Nothing in the ruling prohibits employers from imposing mandatory or other vaccination policies on their work force. Employers with 100 or more employees are simply no longer compelled to do so by the federal government’s vaccination mandate.
To obtain further information about how this may affect your business or to obtain guidance about creating your company’s COVID policies, contact Sean Monson by calling (801) 532-1234 or send an email to smonson@parsonbehle.com.
