Washington (AP) — More than six weeks after promising new immunization or testing rules for millions of Americans in a company with more than 100 workers, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic President Joe Biden’s most aggressive move is almost ready Look at the light of day.
Ambiguous White House offices are expected to always give a green light to the fine print of the rules detailing how and when companies require employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly.
The full enforcement deadline, which can result in a fine of approximately $ 14,000 for each breach, may not be valid until the end of the new year. As a result, Biden and his aides have been encouraging businesses for weeks to act as if the rules were already in effect and begin imposing vaccination requirements.
Published in the Federal Register, the rule was drafted by the Occupational Health and Safety Department under emergency authorities to protect worker safety and covers an estimated 80 million US workers. The White House sees it as a powerful tool to blow away the ranks of some 65 million Americans who have refused to be shot so far.
Unlike health care providers and federal employees who may not have alternative testing methods for vaccination, private sector workers do not necessarily face retirement without vaccination. However, some companies may choose to impose their own stricter vaccination obligations, and companies will pass on the cost of weekly COVID-19 testing to unvaccinated employees. May be allowed.
White House officials refused to discuss when the rules would be published and to go into details about when companies must comply.
Last week, federal authorities hosted more than 20 listening sessions with industry groups, businesses and advocates. Some support the rule, others strongly oppose it, but everyone wants to know more about the rule.
The National Chamber of Commerce and other groups representing large employers are small, with proposed thresholds (applicable to companies with 100 or more employees) that do not require workers to be vaccinated. I am concerned that I may move to my employer’s job.
Mark Friedman, Vice President of Employment Policy at the Chamber of Commerce, said: “It can lead to very serious confusion.”
Friedman, who participated in the Chamber of Commerce call with government officials, created jobs by giving employers with 90 or 95 employees a reason why the 100-worker threshold does not increase. Also said that it would have an adverse effect.
The experience of United Airlines and healthcare providers who acted early to request vaccination suggests that few employees give up their jobs because of their vaccination obligations. United states that of the 67,000 American workers, about 200 face retirement due to refusal to vaccinate, and an additional 2,000 still seek medical or religious exemptions.
The provincial government’s vaccination obligation expires this week in Washington, Massachusetts, and New Jersey after numerous legal objections by a union of state employees and first responders.
In Washington, state patrols have lost 127 personnel, including 67 soldiers, who have left due to COVID-19 vaccination obligations for state personnel, about 6% of officials said.
The Northwest mission also led to the attention-grabbing dismissal of unvaccinated Washington football coach Nick Lorovich and his four assistants.
In Massachusetts, about 1,600 state officials have not proven vaccinated by Sunday’s deadline or have sought vaccination exemptions. Republican Governor Charlie Baker announced in August that about 44,000 government workers and contractors would be vaccinated or faced with suspension and eventually lost their jobs.
The National Association of Manufacturers argues that companies need to gain credibility by taking early steps to vaccinate a high percentage of workers. Manufacturers have expressed concern that higher smoking cessation rates may be seen, as many factories are located in rural areas where there is strong opposition to vaccination.
Manufacturers, chambers of commerce, and other business groups are also urging employers to force unvaccinated workers to pay for weekly COVID-19 testing.
“Many of our members strongly feel that the vaccine is widely available and free. Therefore, if you choose not to vaccinate, the responsibility for the test is the employee who chooses not to vaccinate. It may and should be on the staff, “said Robyn Boerstling, Vice President of NAM. She said the employer should pay to test whether the employee has a medical condition or “proven true” religious reason for exemption.
However, business groups are not optimistic about the issue of test costs, saying that OSHA has a history of forcing employers to bear the costs of new regulations.
Retailers are worried about when the new regulations will come into effect in preparation for the important holiday season. They want to postpone the effective date of the rule to next year.
Some who participated in discussions with the Department of Information Regulation, which is finalizing the proposal, said they did not get any hint as to whether their discussions would shake the administration. They described a conference call where White House staff listened to their discussions and did not respond — virtual for a pandemic.
It is not clear how the business community will respond after the final rules are published.
Management officials said legal issues are likely to come from Republican-led states such as Texas. And Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the conservative Job Creators Network, reiterated his pledge on Tuesday after meeting with White House officials and appealing to block the enforcement of the rules. Twenty general Republican state lawyers vowed to kill the mandate using “all available legal options” last month.
Government vax-or-test rules are almost ready while nervous companies wait
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