We have gathered insights from the leading human resource and compliance publications to help employers as they prepare for the upcoming OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). President Biden has ordered OSHA to create a rule that requires employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or get workers tested weekly.

What we know about the upcoming ETS
- President Biden has ordered OSHA to develop an ETS and didn’t provide an exact deadline. It is expected to be released in the next few weeks
- Employers who don’t follow the standard could face OSHA citations and penalties of up to $14,000 per violation
- This rule will not apply to remote workers who don’t report to the workspace or come into contact with others
- The 100 employee count is not based on location, but the total company-wide
What we don't know about the upcoming ETS
- Who will be responsible for the cost of vaccines and tests?
- Which tests will be accepted?
- Will employers have to provide paid time off for testing?
- How will they instruct employers to collect and verify vaccination status?
Guiding Questions for Employers Updating their Policy
Regardless of what we don’t yet know about the ETS, employers with more than 100 employees would benefit from asking the following questions.
- How many employees are vaccinated in my workplace?
- Do we have the infrastructure and budget to support weekly testing for employees?
- Will we require vaccines or weekly testing?
- How will we track employee vaccine information or weekly test results?
- What policy will we develop for employees with medical or religious exemptions?
- What will we do if an employee refuses to get vaccinated or get tested weekly?
- If necessary, how will we show OSHA that our operations are in compliance with the new standard?

Why you need easy-to-use software
This new requirement places a tremendous burden on Human Resource teams who now have to manage vaccine and testing records for all employees. ReturnSafe, our partnering health safety platform, automates vaccine and test tracking, making it easy for administrators to track and manage compliance with OSHA’s standard.
In addition to vaccine tracking and testing, employers can also access case management, screening, access control, and time and attendance tools through our platform.
Maintaining a database of 100s of workers' health status takes a toll on administrators, especially as the workforce changes. To further help teams scale out, ReturnSafe integrates with UKG’s database to ensure that employee roster information stays up to date without a duplication of efforts.
Interested in learning more? Check our ReturnSafe on the UKG Marketplace.