On Nov. 16, via lottery, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit was chosen to hear challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. This development follows the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s Nov. 12 stay order and OSHA’s announcement that it has suspended activities related to the impl

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force recently issued updated guidance on when covered contractor employees must be vaccinated, as well as new FAQS on vaccination and safety protocols and workplaces.

In a Nov. 9 press release, ABC and its Alabama chapter announced that they filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 11th Circuit against the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees.

On Nov. 10, ABC’s Free Enterprise Alliance announced it has completed a $200,000 issue advocacy ad buy to educate the public on dangerous policies in the Democrats’ reconciliation bill and other legislation moving through Congress.

The ABC Keystone, Eastern Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania and Cumberland Valley chapters recently signed a statewide letter of agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to help formerly incarcerated citizens kickstart a career in construction.

On Nov. 5, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration requesting a 60-day extension for the public to submit feedback on its advance notice of proposed rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which will begin the process to consider a heat-specific workplace rule. ABC also requested comment extensions as a member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition and Coalition for Workplace Safety.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget has concluded its review of the OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard rulemaking, which will apply to employers with 100 or more employees as required by President Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 Action Plan.

On Oct. 28, as a reference for employers and employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shared its own internal religious accommodation request form with the public. The EEOC stated, “While the EEOC’s internal forms typically are not made public, the EEOC shared this resource given the extraordinary circumstances employers and employees face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

On Nov. 1, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force posted new frequently asked questions for federal contractors, whose covered employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Dec. 8 unless the contractor is legally required to provide an accommodation for medical or religious reasons. The new FAQs cover vaccination and safety protocols, scope and applicability of task force

On Oct. 28, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Departments of Defense, General Services Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration to urge the agencies to clarify several aspects of the proposal and provided recommendations to reduce the burden and costs for federal contractors to comply with the Buy American Act.