Legal battles over the Labor Department's vaccine ruling and the omicron variant wave have caused confusion for employers across the country, The New York Times reported Dec. 20.
On Nov. 4, OSHA issued a ruling requiring all businesses with 100 employees or more to impose a vaccination mandate for their employees or adhere to regular testing by January 2022. The enforcement of the order has been up in the air amid rulings by federal appeals courts to suspend the mandates. The legal block to the mandate was lifted Dec. 17, although appeals to the ruling were immediately filed, further complicating its legal status.
OSHA also pushed back the compliance deadline to Feb. 9, 2022, altering the timeline for employers to enforce compliance.
As some companies have developed testing programs for their unvaccinated employees, testing capacities have become strained across the country, causing anxiety about enforcement if they cannot comply.
Another uncertainty in the light of the omicron wave is whether employers should mandate booster shots, as the definition of fully vaccinated is still being decided, according to the Times.