The Biden administration will force private-sector employers to mandate all of their employees either get the COVID-19 shot or produce a negative test weekly.
The new rule, developed by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), applies to all businesses with 100 employees or more. Businesses that do not comply with the new federal requirements could face “substantial fines up to nearly $14,000 per violation.”
The Biden admin w/ enforce "substantial fines up to nearly $14,000 per violation" to employers that don't abide by the vaccine or weekly testing mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees that @POTUS will announce later today, per @WHCOVIDResponse Jeff Zients.
— Patsy Widakuswara (@pwidakuswara) September 9, 2021
According to Axios, the new order extends to “more than 80 million Americans working in the private sector.”
The mandates are part of a larger plan from the administration to push the COVID vaccines on health care workers and offer COVID “booster” shots to Americans as early as Sept. 20. The White House’s next steps are to pressure entertainment hubs and venues to require a vaccine passport or negative test for entry and require “staff in school settings” to be vaccinated.
The administration also hopes to provide “funding to school districts to support reopening, including backfilling salaries.”
Earlier on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki hinted that the administration would take action to “compel major employers … to force the vaccine mandates on their employees.”
REPORTER: "Can the Department of Labor or anybody else compel major employers, the large employers, to force the vaccine mandates on their employees?"
PSAKI: "Yes. Stay tuned." pic.twitter.com/gBQvOh5HLQ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 9, 2021
The announcement comes shortly after the president promised to sign an executive order requiring federal employees to receive the COVID-19 shot or risk “progressive disciplinary action.” Workers will have roughly 75 days to get vaccinated or request a medical or religious exemption after the executive order is signed.
Federal workers will have about 75 days to get vaccinated or face an HR process of “progressive disciplinary action” once Pres. Biden signs the new executive order mandating shots for millions of government workers, per @PressSec. There will be some medical/religious exemptions.
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) September 9, 2021
The White House previously considered using its federal power to pressure institutions such as universities, cruise lines, and even long-term care facilities that rely on federal funding, which could risk losing their government dollars if they don’t comply with vaccine mandates.
