Last week, in addition to announcing the new OSHA COVID-19 ETS and the CMS Rules, the White House announced that federal contractors (and subcontractors) will have four extra weeks – until January 4, 2022 – to vaccinate their workforce against COVID-19.
Remember, in September, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance in accordance with Executive Order 14042. The Task Force’s guidance requires covered federal contractors (and subcontractors) to implement a “hard” vaccine mandate and, by December 8, 2021, ensure that their employees are either: (a) “fully vaccinated” or (b) have requested and received a medical or religious accommodation. Our original blog post on the federal contractor requirements is available here.
In light of the new OSHA COVID-19 ETS and CMS Rules, which were announced last week, the White House decided to delay the vaccination requirement for federal contractors. According to the White House, this delay will make it easier for employers who may have employees that are subject to each of the three vaccine requirements (i.e., OSHA, CMS, or federal contractors):
The rules released today ensure employers know which requirements apply to which workplaces. Federal contractors may have some workplaces subject to requirements for federal contractors and other workplaces subject to the newly-released COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS. To make it easy for all employers to comply with the requirements, the deadline for the federal contractor vaccination requirement will be aligned with those for the CMS rule and the ETS. Employees falling under the ETS, CMS, or federal contractor rules will need to have their final vaccination dose – either their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna, or single dose of Johnson & Johnson – by January 4, 2022. This will make it easier for employers to ensure their workforce is vaccinated, safe, and healthy, and ensure that federal contractors implement their requirements on the same timeline as other employers in their industries. And, the newly-released ETS will not be applied to workplaces subject to the federal contractor requirement or CMS rule, so employers will not have to track multiple vaccination requirements for the same employees.
See here for more information.
Bottom Line
While the extension to January 4, 2022 is welcome news for federal contractors (and subcontractors), the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force’s website has yet to update the vaccination deadline. Further, the delay in the “fully vaccinated” requirement does not push back any of the other compliance deadlines in the federal contractor guidelines, including masking and social-distancing protocols. Thus, federal contractors (and subcontractors) should continue to prepare for these rules with the understanding that they will have additional time to convince employees covered by the federal contractor rules to either: (a) receive the COVID-19 vaccine or (b) request and receive a medical or religious exemption.
We will continue to monitor this issue as it develops.