6th Circuit Court Lifts Stay on OSHA ETS Vaccine Mandate

At a Glance

• On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit lifted the stay on the ETS put in place in November by the 5th Circuit.
• The decision dissolves the injunction that blocked OSHA from implementing and enforcing the ETS but is not a final decision on the legality of the ETS.
• Compliance with the testing requirement has been pushed back to February 9, 2022.
• Regardless of the 6th Circuit’s decision to lift the stay, it is possible the U.S. Supreme Court will make a final decision on the ETS.

What Does This Mean for Employers?

The Court's decision to lift the stay is not a ruling on the legal challenges against the ETS. The decision dissolves the injunction that blocked OSHA from implementing and enforcing the ETS while the legal challenges are reviewed in court. The 6th Circuit still has to review the question of whether OSHA has the authority to issue the ETS and the timeframe for those actions is still pending.

Now that the stay has been lifted, what does that mean for the original compliance deadlines? The DOL released a statement on December 18, 2021 stating, "OSHA will not issue citations for non-compliance 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."

If you're unsure how this impacts your organization, it may be beneficial to seek guidance from your legal counsel and ensure all relevant factors are considered. If you need to revisit the ETS requirements, you can find additional information here. Paylocity is prepared to assist with any tracking requirements your organization may have. For more information on our solution, please review our recent webinar.

Paylocity will continue to closely monitor any further developments and legal challenges to the OSHA ETS on Vaccination and Testing, in addition to the lawsuits pending against the federal contractor vaccine mandate and the mandate issued by CMS which applies to certain health care facilities. Paylocity's Vaccination and Testing Tracking solution is available for our clients regardless of the outcome of the various legal challenges.

Thank you for choosing Paylocity as your Payroll Tax and HCM partner. This information is provided as a courtesy, may change, and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney or Advisor.