LOC News
U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Vaccine Mandates
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) proposed requirement that employers, including cities, with 100 or more employees, ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested regularly for COVID 19. The court let stand a similar requirement for healthcare workers.
The vaccine and testing requirements as proposed by OSHA were previously set to take effect on January 24. However, the ruling only addressed whether OHSA had sufficient statutory authority to impose the requirement and did not address any other constitutional questions. State and local vaccine mandates on employees, or on specific sectors such as schools, were not impacted by the decision.
Additionally, the court upheld a requirement on healthcare workers whose employer received payments from the federal Medicare or Medicaid programs. While this ruling would impact city ambulance and EMS services, a state requirement is already in effect.
Contact: Scott Winkels, Lobbyist - swinkels@orcities.org
Last Updated 1/14/22