Labor & Employment Law Update

In September President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 was blessed by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force requiring certain federal contractors to have all of their contract and related workers vaccinated against COVID-19 by the new deadline date of January 4, 2022 (it was previously set for December 8, 2021 but with the OSHA and CMS mandates, the federal contractors’ date was extended). Just like President Biden’s Orders to get both health care workers and employees who work for companies with 100 or more employees vaccinated, the federal contractor vaccination mandate is being fought hard in the court system by several states and organizations. 

Today, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker in the Southern District of Georgia put a nationwide halt on the federal contractor vaccination mandate, as various states and organizations are arguing that the President is exceeding his authority under the U.S. Constitution, and that Congress never granted him this authority. The case is captioned: The State of Georgia et al v. Biden et al, Case No. 1:21-CV-00163.  Here, the judge granted the preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of mandatory vaccination requirements on federal contractors.

What do you do now? There is nothing stopping a federal contractor from keeping pace and rolling out their vaccination policies and requiring workers to get COVID-19 vaccinations. However, if you are in the same boat as many other federal contractors and such a mandate and the requirements are causing you heart burn and stretching resources you do not have, you can put a stay on your roll out to see what happens next during this lawsuit since the lawsuit has halted any enforcement on the mandate as of now. 

Stay tuned for updates as this case progresses.