In the Headlines
January 21, 2022

Is Your Company's COVID Vaccine Mandate Illegal?

Verywell Health

Labor and employment attorney Timothy Taylor spoke with Verywell Health about the U.S. Supreme Court's recent block of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) enforcement of a federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The article points out that the Court ruling does not mean employers need to lift their mandates, and it doesn't keep them from implementing a new one, creating confusion.

Mr. Taylor explains, "What the Court's ruling does is to keep OSHA from enforcing a vaccine mandate. Companies, so long as they don't violate local or state laws, can still impose a mandate—with some exceptions—for their employees." He also mentions that "employers who do put a vaccine requirement in place 'need to be mindful of disability and religious discrimination laws and to consider exceptions to vaccination, testing, or masking if an employee says they infringe those rights'" and "that some states may try to set or widen mandates of their own, making it harder in some states for employers to implement vaccine requirements and easier in others."

"Employers can still require employees to be vaccinated, but they won't be able to point to OSHA as the reason they are doing it," Mr. Taylor added. "And they will need to think about possible ramifications."

READ: Is Your Company's COVID Vaccine Mandate Illegal?

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