By BILL HALLAN, President and CEO
The theme of the Michigan Retailer publication this month is giving. We focus on how retailers are impacting their communities to make positive change. Retailers are known for their charitable efforts, frequently sponsoring spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts, and local sports teams. The positive stories featured in this edition add some balance to other challenges that retailers are currently facing.
The federal government gave businesses a real gift this holiday season when OSHA released the new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) establishing a vaccine mandate for private employers. The high-level one sentence summary is that employers with 100 or more employees must require their employees to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing and wear a face covering.
The details are complicated and cannot be fully summarized in this article. In fact, the ETS is 490 pages, thus, we encourage you to visit our website (retailers.com) where we’ve published summaries, FAQs, and legal reviews. But the ETS is estimated to impact two-thirds of the private workforce, or more than 80 million Americans, so let’s dive in.
The validity of the ETS is already in question. At the time of writing, 27 states have sued OSHA and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has implemented a stay. The various suits have been consolidated into one action before the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Assuming the validity is upheld, retailers have virtually zero time to comply with the rule. The face-covering requirement for unvaccinated employees starts on December 5 and the vaccine mandate starts January 4, 2022. In short, a covered business needs to evaluate the vaccination status of its entire workforce by December 5 and develop a comprehensive tracking system to ensure compliance.
First things first, Michigan Retailers Association fully supports vaccination efforts. The lightening fast development of the vaccine is perhaps the brightest spot of the pandemic, highlighting how private business and the government can work together. Our pharmacy members have vaccinated millions of Americans, offering clinics and walk-in appointments. Retailers have been good partners in the fight against COVID, limiting capacity, developing new safety procedures, and keeping shelves stocked. With that said, we strongly disagree with the timing and requirements of the ETS.
MRA opposes far-reaching government mandates as we’ve always advocated for businesses to be able to establish their own policies that make sense for their workplace and customers.
Mandates require a one-size fits all approach, they are costly and burdensome.
Moreover, even if the ETS satisfies the grave danger standard necessary for implementation of an emergency rule, we object to the timing. Retailers are already dealing with staffing shortages and supply chain issues. The fourth quarter timing is foolish and tone-deaf. With over 70% of U.S. adults already vaccinated, we question why the Biden administration didn’t at least delay the requirement until after the holidays.
Michigan Retailers Association is part of a coalition, Listen to MI Businesses, advocating for reconsideration of the ETS and our federal partners have asked for a 60-day extension, but we’re advising our members to start preparing for compliance. In the spirit of giving, we hope to be able to give you some better news about the ETS in the coming weeks. In the meantime, happy holidays from the MRA team!
