A collection of nurses unions asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the U.S. Department of Labor to make permanent the agency's emergency temporary standard for health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their request was denied on Aug. 26.
"We cannot order the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] to promulgate a permanent standard because at the conclusion of the rulemaking process, OSHA is permitted to determine that no standard should issue," the court stated.
OSHA's temporary standard requires health care employers to screen patients for COVID-19 symptoms upon entry, provide personal protective equipment and physical distancing, limit the number of employees present during procedures that generate aerosols, implement cleaning and ventilation protocols, and train employees on COVID-19.
We rounded up a selection of relevant news articles from SHRM Online and other trusted news sources.
OSHA Can Take More Time on Permanent Standard
A group of unions lost its bid to force the federal government to quickly enact a permanent rule aimed at protecting health care workers from COVID-19 infections, after the federal court ruled that it lacked the ability to do so. The court doesn't have the jurisdiction to set OSHA's enforcement polices or dictate a timeline for enacting them, a three-judge panel ruled. The court decision allows OSHA to issue a permanent standard at its own pace.
Enforcement...
On September 14, 2026, the Department of Justice announced that Accenture Federal Services, Accenture plc, and Accenture LLP agreed to pay $25 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that ...