THE U.S. Department of Labor-Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday lifted its Emergency Temporary Standard or ETS that would have required private sector employers with 100 or more employees to either continue to mandate Covid-19 vaccinations for their employees or require them to comply with weekly Covid-19 testing and face covering requirements.
This comes after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this month which stayed the enforcement of ETS, finding that parties challenging the mandate would likely succeed.
The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower federal appellate court for review on the merits of the parties’ arguments.
The ruling indicates that OSHA may have exceeded its authority in issuing this Covid-19 vaccine-or-testing requirement under the umbrella of its authority to regulate workplace safety.
In withdrawing this rule, OSHA implicitly acknowledges that further litigation on this matter was unlikely to be successful.
“Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule. The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent Covid-19 Healthcare Standard. OSHA strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by Covid-19 in the workplace,” OSHA stated on Wednesday.
CNMI employers attending the Society for Human Resource Management-CNMI Chapter meeting on Wednesday afternoon in the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom were notified of this recent change by CNMI DOL OSHA-On-Site Consultation Division project manager Timothy Asaivao, who was one of three presenters who spoke at the meeting.
For more information, contact the CNMI DOL OSHA-On-Site Consultation Division at (670) 664-3153/4/5/6/7.
