As announced yesterday, President Biden is issuing executive orders (EOs) regarding new policies to combat the COVID virus. The White House released this document summarizing the EOs, which can be found here.
The EOs include the following:
• Department of Labor Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with more than 100 people to require vaccination or weekly testing
• Department of Labor rule requiring employers with more than 100 people to provide paid time off for vaccinations
• Require federal employees to get vaccinated within 75 days or risk termination (which would remove the option for weekly testing in lieu of vaccination)
• Extend the federal employee vaccination requirement to federal contractors
• Require Medicare and Medicaid funding recipients to fully vaccinate their staff
• Urge schools to set up regular testing based on community spread
• Expand free COVID testing
Lakeland Chamber staff is working with our partners at the U.S. Chamber to prepare a list of likely questions and policy issues raised by the EOs. We will also be attending a virtual briefing on the EOs today with Seema Nanda, the Solicitor of the U.S. Department of Labor.