Appeals court reinstates OSHA vaccination mandates

A federal appeals court reinstated the COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

The Dec. 17 ruling re-establishes the upcoming vaccination mandate being put in place by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) through an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). 

The ETS applies to businesses with 100 or more employees and requires employees to be fully vaccinated or comply with weekly testing requirements. 

This ruling lifts a November injunction that had blocked the ETS and resulted in OSHA suspending enforcement as the legal process went forward.

In response to a recent letter sent to OSHA from the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), OSHA announced that it is agreeing with NLBMDA and exercising enforcement discretion with respect to the compliance dates of the ETS. 

The NLBMDA has highlighted OSHA's enforcement dates:

“To provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.”

According to the NLBMDA, the case will likely now move to consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court, though it is unclear when the Court could consider it. 

The association said it will continue to monitor legal developments and provide information as needed. In addition, NLBMDA will be providing substantive written comments to OSHA on behalf of the LBM industry in response to the ETS and dealer concerns.