Under the current ETS, private employers must:
- Determine whether the employer has 100 or more employees or not.
- If the employer has 100 or more employees, then it must determine whether it will adopt a (a) vaccination only policy, or (b) vaccination + testing policy.
- Determine the vaccination status of each employee and maintain records.
- Require employees to provide prompt notice of a positive COVID-19 test or diagnosis. Employers must then remove the COVID-19 employees from the workplace until they meet the required criteria.
- Provide paid time to workers to get vaccinated (up to four hours for each dose) and to allow for paid leave to recover from any side effects.
- If the employer chooses to implement a vaccination + testing policy, it also must ensure that each unvaccinated worker provides a negative test for COVID-19 at least once a week or within 7 days before returning to work (if the worker is away from the workplace for a week or longer). The employer does not need to pay for the testing under ETS (but it may be required to do so under other laws, regulations, or collective bargaining agreements).
- Ensure that, in most circumstances, each employee who has not been fully vaccinated wears a face covering when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes.
- Provide employees information about the ETS requirements, the CDC document "Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines," information about protection against retaliation and discrimination, and criminal penalties for knowingly supplying false statements.
- Report work-related COVID-19 fatalities to OSHA within 8 hours and work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours.
OSHA ETS FAQ, sample vaccination only policy, sample vaccination + testing policy.
January 13, 2022 Update:
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that OSHA's ETS was unconstitutional.
