This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week.
In this issue, we cover:
Federal Vaccine Mandate Legal Challenges Update
Notable Labor Department Developments
COVID-19 Updates
While both chambers of the U.S. Congress were in recess this week, the first session of the 117th Congress is set to adjourn officially at the end of the month. Lawmakers will return to Washington for the second session of the 117th Congress when it convenes on January 3, 2022.
Federal Vaccine Mandate Legal Challenges Update. After the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) vaccine-or-test Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) stay in a 2-1 decision late last Friday, OSHA posted quickly new compliance dates on its ETS website. Employers with 100 or more employees must now comply with the provisions of the ETS by January 10, 2022. If an employer allows employees to test instead, then unvaccinated employees must begin regular testing on or before February 9, 2022, if in the workplace.
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled expedited arguments on the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision to lift the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the OSHA ETS. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments from petitioners and OSHA on January 7, 2022, just three days before OSHA is set to begin enforcement of the ETS. The Court will also hear...
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced charges against 15 people, including six medical professionals, for allegedly participating in schemes that collectively submitted $2 billion i...