Nationwide Vaccination Mandate for Private Sector Businesses

The Biden administration has begun to create mandatory vaccination requirements for industries across the nation. In July, President Biden stated that there would be a vaccination mandate for the workers within the federal government. At this same time, the administration began to advocate for private businesses to enforce vaccinations with their own policies.

As it is addressed on the White House’s official website, “The President’s plan will reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans by using regulatory powers and other actions to substantially increase the number of Americans covered by vaccination requirements-these requirements will become dominant in the workplace.” On the website, the administration addresses the specific steps that are on the way for vaccination mandates. It plans on having businesses with over 100 employees become fully vaccinated. If employees choose to remain unvaccinated, then they will have to receive a weekly test before being present at the workplace.  

The vaccination mandate also extends to those federal employees found within the executive branch. Contractors that are working in conjunction with the federal government will be required to be vaccinated as well. A variety of governmental agencies, including the Department of Defense and the National Health Institute, will be helping the administration with this.

Nationwide facilities involved with Medicare and Medicaid will have some regulations imposed regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. Facilities such as hospitals and home health organizations will be required to have their employees and staff to be fully vaccinated. The administration hopes that by imposing these regulations on the healthcare industry, uniform guidelines will be established across the nation.

These regulations will also be affecting the entertainment industry. The Biden administration’s plan is to require entertainment establishments that can host a significant number of people to require proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test.

With the amount of time it will take to vaccinate all of these individuals, the administration is planning on implementing a rule requiring businesses to pay employees while being vaccinated. This includes the potential time an employee might have to take off, if needed, to recover from receiving the vaccine. This rule will only be extended to businesses with over 100 employees.

The response to this wide array of new rules has varied amongst business leaders. Some praise the new implementations while others consider that it could be catastrophic to their business. Governmental agencies have come to the conclusion that once the January 4th deadline is reached, business leaders and their employees will follow the plan. If businesses do not follow the plan as listed, the number of fines they can receive can reach over $100,000. The amount increases for each individual employee who does not comply.

In an overwhelming response to these upcoming regulations, a majority of states are suing to prevent implementation. These states include Nebraska, Iowa, New Hampshire, and multiple others. The outcome of these lawsuits is yet to be seen.