Tag: Occupational Health and Safety Administration

Supreme Court Will Hear Expedited Arguments on OSHA's ETS The United States Supreme Court has scheduled expedited oral arguments for determining whether or not to stay in enforcement of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) prior to the full review. The Supreme Court will hear arguments from both petitioners and OSHA on January 7th, 2022, only three days before OSHA is set to begin enforcing these standards. Currently, OSHA is free to enforce the ETS since the Sixth Circuit Court lifted the stay issued by the Fifth Circuit. The Sixth Circuit's decision stated that OSHA had likely acted within its authority and must be able to respond to threats as they evolve, such as those posed by COVID-19 and its emerging variants. OSHA responded to this decision and the delays posed by the earlier stay by announcing that it would utilize its enforcement discretion to postpone issuing any citations for noncompliance with the ETS requirements until January 10th and with testing requirements until February 9th assuming employers are acting in good faith to come into compliance. The agency also gave states with their own OSHA State Plans until January 24th, 2022, to move forward with adopting the ETS. Following the lifting of the stay by the Sixth Circuit, 27 states, as well as several other parties, filed motions with the Supreme Court, asking it to block enforcement of the ETS. These plaintiffs alleged that implementing the ETS would cause irreparable harm, including labor shortages and funding shortfalls. Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that based upon the merits of the case, it is likely that they will prevail. The plaintiffs have also requested the court grant a rare review of the case prior to judgment by the lower Court that is still addressing the case. According to the plaintiffs, this is justified by both the importance of the matter, the fact the case addresses questions concerning the structure of the government, OSHA's power concerning the economy, and the fact that since an ETS only has a life of six months without hastening the review, the matter could become moot. Initially, these emergency appeals were assigned to Justice Kavanaugh, who asked OSHA to respond to the challenges by December 30th, 2021. Kavanaugh has since referred the challenge to the full Court who will also be hearing oral arguments on a stay of the vaccine mandate for covered participants in the Medicaid and Medicare programs administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Employer Takeaway OSHA's ETS has seen significant litigation already with back and forth results. However, a ruling from the Supreme Court should provide some degree of closure. Employers are certainly already exhausted by the rapidly changing enforcement, but they will definitely want to keep an eye out for how this matter is resolved before the Court. Pre-employ can help your company stay in compliance with these new guidelines with free resources available to you. Download our guide on 5 Tips To Avoid FCRA Non-Compliance to discover more. STAY COMPLIANT WITH YOUR BACKGROUND CHECKS

Tag: Occupational Health and Safety Administration

Supreme Court Will Hear Expedited Arguments on OSHA’s ETS

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