On January 13, the United States Supreme Court ruled to reinstate the stay to effectively prevent the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) mandate for private employers. On January 7, the Supreme Court held a special session to hear oral arguments on the OSHA vaccine mandate for private employers and for healthcare workers.
The Supreme Court ruled that OSHA exceeded its authority in issuing a broad vaccine mandate rule, requiring employers with 100 or more employee to establish vaccine policies requiring employees to be vaccinated or to submit to weekly testing. In a 6 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court voted to invalidate the vaccine or testing requirement required to be imposed by large employers. Most of the justices believed that Congress did not provide OSHA through the Occupational Safety Health Act (OSHA Act) with the authority to issue broad public health mandates, as it relates to workers. The case will now be remanded back to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals for the Court to find the rule illegal.
NAR will continue to follow developments regarding pandemic related matters impacting workers and the industry.