"I do not view OSHA's announcement about suspending activities related to implementing and enforcing the [emergency temporary standard] as anything other than a public acknowledgment that it is complying with the Fifth Circuit's order," said Brett Coburn, a partner with Alston & Bird in Atlanta. (Credit: VAKSMANV/Adobe Stock)
A push to have employers of 100 or more workers implement vaccination-or-testing policies has come to a halt before ever getting started, as the Department of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)   has suspended its COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS).

OSHA had planned on rolling out its emergency temporary standard requiring applicable employers by Dec. 5 to require masks for all unvaccinated employees working in-person, and to have them provide weekly negative COVID-19 tests, beginning Jan. 4, 2022.

On Nov. 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans issued a temporary stay blocking OSHA's pending vaccination-or-testing policy. Six days later, the federal appellate court announced an order staying enforcement of the emergency temporary standard pending a final ruling on its legality.

'Unconstitutional mandate'

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted about the suspension, citing lawsuits filed against the OSHA standard, including one by Georgia.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Cedra Mayfield

Cedra Mayfield is a litigation reporter with the Daily Report, the ALM newspaper in Atlanta. She can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @cedramayfield

Agency Management
Coverage & Policy Issues
Litigation