If you're a business owner with 100+ employees, you may have started scrambling to implement OSHA's vaccine-or-test ETS since the announcement on November 4th that businesses would have to be compliant by December 5th (only giving owners 30 days for implementation). Not even 48 hours after the announcement, the ETS was blocked by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and put on a temporary standstill. Where does the ETS stand since November 6th? Suspended. OSHA has suspended all activities relating to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS until further notice.

This suspension means that the December 5th and January 4th deadlines are likely pushed back until a final decision is made. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ETS exceeds OSHA's authority and is unconstitutional - this case is on a trajectory that will likely end up in the Supreme Court for a final ruling. However, none of the court decisions have an effect on the vaccine mandates that apply to healthcare settings or federal workers and contractors.

GotTheTest tip: Be prepared. COVID has impacted our businesses in so many unexpected ways. Don't let this looming ETS be another hit on your business. While we don't know if the ETS will be officially mandated or not, you can use the extra time the court rulings have given you to prepare your business for the ETS or just improve COVID precautions in the workplace regardless.