Federal COVID Response Plans

This week, President Biden announced a new set of COVID response and vaccine plans.  Among other items, the plan's directives will affect employers including some financial institutions. 

The plan will:

• Direct the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require vaccination or provide a negative test for the virus weekly.  OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement, though no timeframe for that rule has been announced. 
• Direct OSHA to develop a rule to require employers with more than 100 workers to provide paid time off in order to be vaccinated (note this is already required by New York State - read more in The Gold Book.)

The plan also outlines information on changes to the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and streamlining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness for small loans. The full plan (still in development) can be accessed here.