Oregon’s workplace safety agency won’t issue a rule requiring Covid vaccination for large employers this week as planned because of lawsuits over the federal version of the rule.
The Biden administration on Nov. 4 set a Jan. 4 deadline for large private employers in the U.S. to require Covid vaccination or weekly tests for the virus for employees. That rule was to be enforced by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
But because Oregon is one of 22 states with its own workplace safety agency, Oregon OSHA, the state has to adopt its own version of the rule within 30 days. That gave the state a Dec. 4 deadline.
Oregon OSHA won’t act yet, however, because of a November ruling in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals pausing the implementation of the federal rule.
That ruling ordered the federal agency to “take no steps to implement or enforce” the mandate “until further court order.”
“Oregon OSHA is continuing discussions with stakeholders, and at this point, we do not anticipate adopting a rule by Dec. 4, 2021. If the stay remains in place, our timelines will be adjusted accordingly. We will continue to monitor the lawsuit and evaluate our options,” the state agency said in a statement on its website.
-Rachel Alexander
