Daniel Kaplan Comments on Business Preparations for OSHA Vaccine Mandate

Partner Daniel Kaplan’s perspective on what employers should do to prepare for the implementation of OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) for vaccines and testing was included in a Milwaukee Business Journal article, The Milwaukee Business Journal’s 10 stories to watch in 2022.

A three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay of OSHA’s ETS for vaccines and testing in December 2021. That decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear oral arguments on January 7, 2022.

Kaplan outlined several steps employers should take to be prepared if the ETS remains intact, including permitting employees up to four hours of paid time off to receive COVID-19 vaccines and allowing paid sick leave for recovery from vaccination side effects.

OSHA issued a mandate in November requiring organizations with 100 or more employees to either mandate Covid-19 vaccines for workers or test workers weekly. Shortly after, a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit of Appeals issued a stay on the mandate.