President Biden dropped a bomb: All employers with 100 or more employees must mandate COVID-19 vaccination or implement weekly virus testing. To be clear, this mandate will affect as many as 100 million people (cue the Austin Powers meme here). As you know, we have fixed fee services in many COVID-19 areas–from Mandatory Vaccines to Checking Vaccine Waivers to Safety Protocols. There is a lot to unpack and here are the highlights.
The COVID-19 Action Plan for Unvaccinated:
- Require all employers with 100+ employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or get tested weekly;
- Require employers to provide paid time off to get vaccinated;
- Require vaccinations for millions of federal contractors;
- Require vaccinations for over 17 million health care workers;
- Require proof of vaccination or testing to enter large entertainment venues.
Testing and Masking
- Use the Defense Production Act to procure 300 million at-home testing kits;
- Make at-home tests 35% cheaper;
- 25 million free at-home testing kits to community health centers and food banks;
- Continue to require masking on planes and on federal properties and double fines for those who do not comply with TSA mask rules.
It is not all stick! Here is some carrot:
- Provide loans of $500,000 to $2 million for small businesses to hire and retain employees, purchase inventory and pay off higher interest debt;
- PPP loans: Make is easier for the 3.5 million of borrowers with $150,000 loans and less to get their loans “wiped clean;”
- Launch the Community Navigator Program to connect small businesses to help.
For many of you, this is the direction you were moving in and the White House action yesterday may be a big boost. For others, this might be the push to move towards vaccination/testing in your workplace. Whatever your place in this journey, we can help. Contact us at 508-548-4888 or questions@foleylawpractice.com for easy to access solutions to keep you in compliance.