Condor: It Is Highly Likely That The Supremes Will Let The OSHA Rule Take Full-Effect By January 10, 2022...

I write tonight, coming in to the last full night of 2021, mostly to link the fine OSHA brief at the Supremes. It is very well-argued. It will largely carry the day.

But I also write to give HR professionals (at larger employers, for example, like Amazon) a fair heads' up, that by the morning of January 11, 2022 OSHA may well be beginning enforcement efforts against intentionally non-compliant employers (doubly so, as to the largest employers, with access to very good counsel here, in real time). This may seem abrupt, but had the silly Fifth Circuit not acted well-beyond its charter, the runup would have been more gradual.

Even so, January 10 is plenty of time to get company-wide memos out, and actually see all covered employees get over to a local pharmacy to get the shot (first dose), or to present a copy of their original vaccination card (both doses plus optional booster) to the local HR reps, for verification. So here it is -- as I've said right along -- January 10 is very-likely the last day (for the old regime), at least for employers with more than 100 non-remote full-time employees:

. . . OSHA announced that it is “exercising enforcement discretion with respect to the compliance dates of the ETS,” such that it “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.” OSHA, COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS, osha.gov/coronavirus/ets2. . . .

OSHA’s decision not to extend the Standard to smaller employers at this time in light of the agency’s feasibility analysis does not undermine its considered judgment and supporting analysis concerning the grave danger to employees and the need for the Standard. Indeed, laws frequently include exemptions for small employers, and such provisions do not call into question the important interests being served with respect to larger employers. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., for example, which prohibits certain forms of discrimination in the workplace, originally exempted employers with fewer than 25 employees, see Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 505 n.2 (2006). . . .

Onward, smiling -- this will be the law of the case, as it were. You heard it from me, first. Be excellent to -- and compassionate toward. . . one another. Even numbered years are. . . the best!

नमस्ते