Workers and employers are in limbo as things change day by day with respect to the status of the Biden administration vaccine mandates. As of December 15, 2021, this is the status of the three vaccine mandates which have been held up in the courts. Stay tuned as things change quickly.
Federal Contractor Executive Order
- Applies to new federal contracts and existing federal contracts once the required vaccine mandate clause is added to the contract.
- Federal district court in Georgia issued an injunction that halted enforcement of the federal contractor vaccine mandate nationwide.
- Office of Management and Budget released guidance confirming that for existing contracts that include a clause implementing the vaccine mandate, federal agencies will take no action to enforce the vaccine mandate clause where the place of performance identified in the contract is in a U.S. state or outlying area subject to a court order prohibiting the vaccine mandate.
OSHA ETS
- Applies to employers with 100 or more employees when the ETS is in effect but will not apply to workplaces covered by the CMS Rule or the federal contractor vaccine requirement.
- On hold due to the stay issued by the Fifth Circuit.
- Sixth Circuit won the lottery and will rule on the consolidated legal challenges; the consolidated challenges will be heard by a three-judge panel of the court.
- OSHA has suspended all implementation and enforcement efforts related to the ETS.
CMS Rule
- Applies to in-person health care workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified health care facilities.
- Federal district court in Louisiana issued a nationwide injunction against enforcement of the CMS vaccine mandate; however, on December 15, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially reversed the district court’s injunction and the CMS rule is now halted in only the 14 states that originally brought the lawsuit in Louisiana.
