On Thursday, Biden’s vaccine mandates and COVID-19 work testing has been halted by the Supreme Court. This will take effect on Feb. 9.
On Thursday, Biden’s vaccine mandates and COVID-19 work testing has been halted by the Supreme Court. This will take effect on Feb. 9.
Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Vaccine Mandate
Starting February 9, a firm with more than 100 employees will no longer be required to comply with the federal mandate that workers must follow the vaccine regulation and be tested weekly, and wear masks. Thursday, the Supreme Court officially ordered to halt Biden’s major attempts to combat COVID-19, a mandate that every employee be fully vaccinated. In addition, the mandate includes two-thirds of the nation’s private workforce, estimated at around 84 million employees. Moreover, an issue in the workplace case was whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had the power to impose the requirements under a 1970 law.
The ruling was unsurprising since the federal courts have supported state and local government’s power to regulate public health, but not the federal government. Sydney Heimbrock, chief industry advisory for government at Qualtrics, an employee experience software company said that “The Supreme Court ruling was not about the mandate itself, but whether the federal government has the authority to impose the mandate,”
Read Also: Biden’s Vaccine Mandate For Federal Contractors And Health Worker Halted!
Biden Administration was “disappointed”
In November, President Joe Biden has announced that every worker’s policy under the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration would require workers at businesses with more than 100 employees to be vaccinated or, for those not vaccinated, be tested weekly. The unvaccinated employee would also be required to wear face masks. Employers that fail to do so would have faced penalties over $14,000 per violation.
Now the Biden administration has to respond to the ruling. In a statement, the president expressed his disappointments towards the order saying it was now up to the states and individual firms to determine whether or not to make their workplaces as secure as possible for every employee.
Related Article: Supreme Court Weighs In Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Amid The Surge Of Omicron Variant
