There are new developments regarding the federal contractor COVID mandate as of Nov. 10, 2021. The most important is that the deadline for compliance has been pushed back from Dec. 8, 2021, to Jan. 18, 2022.
On Oct. 17, 2021, Construction Executive published an article regarding the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force’s Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors. The article explains and describes the basic compliance requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors.
On Nov. 10, 2021, the task force published “updated” guidance and added new and updated points to its FAQs. The important takeaways include the following.
The remainder of the guidance and FAQs appears to be unchanged from the Nov. 1, 2021, updates. Contractors and subcontractors are advised to check the task force’s website at least twice a week for “what’s new”—particularly since there have been seven updates in less than two months since the guidance was first issued on Sept. 24, 2021.
There are several federal lawsuits across the country seeking to invalidate the guidance. These lawsuits are different from the federal cases challenging the OSHA ETS which, as of this moment, has been stayed by a federal appellate court. The guidance has not been stayed or enjoined at this time and contractors/subcontractors should continue to comply with the guidance and all FAQs.
The guidance and the future FAR clauses are rapidly evolving.
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