Several news outlets (Bloomberg below) are noting the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has submitted the worker vaccine rule to the White House for review prior to publishing as an ’emergency temporary standard’.

While this may be seen as disappointing by many, the moment the rule hits the federal register, it will be subject to lawsuits before implementation.  Until the DoL/OSHA rule hits the books, the mandate is nothing except a statement of intent.

Once the emergency rule is put into the register, then various state attorneys general and private sector employers or employees will be able to seek injunctions and challenge the legality. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated yesterday his legal team is awaiting the rule to be published to trigger his state’s legal challenge.

(Bloomberg) […] The standard implements the president’s Sept. 9 order for a regulation requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to mandate workers get fully vaccinated or be tested weekly for Covid-19. Biden also asked for the rule to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated and to recover from any side effects.

An emergency standard bypasses what is normally a years-long regulatory process. To do so, OSHA must establish that the vaccination or testing requirement was necessary to protect workers from a “grave danger.”

“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working expeditiously to develop an emergency temporary standard that covers employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing to protect employees from the spread of coronavirus in the workplace,” a DOL spokesperson said in an email. “On Tuesday, October 12, as part of the regulatory review process, the agency submitted the initial text of the emergency temporary standard to the Office of Management and Budget.” (read more)

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