The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday completed its review of the emergency rule first announced by President Joe Biden to require private businesses with 100+ employees to either have workers vaccinate or test weekly.
Biden, in one of the administration’s latest efforts to raise vaccine rates in the U.S., announced in September that the Labor Department would be drafting the emergency rule. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – a branch of the Labor Department – then submitted the rule’s text to the OMB for review on Oct. 12.
“On November 1, the Office of Management and Budget completed its regulatory review of the emergency temporary standard,” a Labor Department spokesperson said according to CNN. “The Federal Register will publish the emergency temporary standard in the coming days. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working expeditiously to develop an emergency temporary standard that covers employers with 100 or more employees, firm- or company-wide, and provides options for compliance.”
The spokesperson noted that employers “must develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy” or “adopt a policy requiring employees to choose either to get vaccinated or to undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work.”
Brandon Rivera, a Los Angeles County emergency medical technician, gives a second does of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to Aaron Delgado, 16, at a pop up vaccine clinic in the Arleta neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, August 23, 2021. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
“The ETS [emergency temporary standard] also requires employers to provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated and paid sick leave to recover from any side effects,” the spokesperson continued. (RELATED: ‘The Choice Is Yours’: In Line With CDC’s Mask Guidance, Biden Gives Americans An Ultimatum On Vaccines)
This new requirement will affect over 80 million workers in the private sector, senior administration officials previously said. Violating the rule could result in a fine of thousands of dollars per employee. The emergency temporary standard will also require employers with 100+ employees to give paid time off for those getting vaccinated and for individuals who experience side effects from the vaccine.