OSHA follows court order and suspends Biden’s vaccine mandate
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has suspended President Biden’s vaccine mandate.
The President’s mandate required employers with over a 100 employees to enforce mandatory vaccinations. It came into effect on November 05 and also required unvaccinated employees to provide weekly PCR test results.
Companies were given a deadline of January 04, 2022 to comply, or face fines of up to a whopping $10,000 (per violation).
As the mandate has been challenged in Federal courts, the Labor Department which OSHA is a part of announced the suspension of the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had put a stay on the implementation. The court ordered OSHA to “take no steps” to enforce the mandate.
OSHA would once again resume implementation if a future court order removes the stay, and/or rules against the filed appeals.
The White House is encouraging employers to get their employees vaccinated even while the mandate is being challenged in courts.