September 10, 2021
When I talk about Covid19 vaccine mandates, I’m not trying to trigger you.
My goal is to inform you about the laws and how vaccine mandates work and have always worked in this country – especially if they come from your employer, your state government, the federal government or your school. And for all of you screaming osha – I will discuss that in this video too.
But first –
Lots of you have a lot of questions about the President’s order I discussed in this video yesterday. For those of you who don’t work for the federal government– the president has now ordered all u-s companies with more than 100 employees to either mandate the vaccine or test their work force weekly. Now – here’s what you all are missing. The rule itself is not out yet. It will come from the labor department and osha. When we see the rule, and the language we’ll get a better understanding of how it’ll work. What we do know is – your company must give you paid time off to get the vaccine and if they don’t comply any of the order, they’ll be fined. Of course, we’ll see lawsuits over it. So just take a breath.
Here’s the fact – your employer, your state government and schools to name a few– have the right to mandate vaccines as a term of employment or admittance into school. It’s been legal according to the Supreme Court since the early 1900s and more recently federal judges across the country and even Justice Amy Coney Barrett continue to uphold vaccine mandates. As long as the legal “religious and medical” exemptions are also offered. Now just because they’re offered, doesn’t mean you’ll get one—it’s really up to your employer and if granting you an exemption causes undue hardship or cost to your employer – you might not get it. And that’s legal.
Now – for all of you screaming – OSHA. Let me explain osha’s current stance. On August 13th OSHA updated its guidance an released the protecting workers against Covid19 document– aside from mandating safe working conditions by implementing several Covid19 mitigation policies –OSHA encourages employers to issue vaccine mandates. Now that guidance is going to be updated based on the president’s order yesterday.
And when it comes to what happens if your employer mandates vaccines and for some reason you have a negative reaction –let me read from osha’s covid19 frequently asked question section on the website – “OSHA will not enforce [29 cfr 1904’s] recording requirements to require any employers to record worker side effects from Covid-19 vaccination through May 2022. We will reevaluate the agency’s position at that time to determine the best course of action moving forward.”
Understand — I didn’t make up these rules out of thin air. I certainly am not a lawmaker voting on these laws nor am I federal judge handing down rulings. I’m a journalist explaining to you how things work. If you don’t like it – do something about it. Call your lawmaker, change your job, vote. Direct your anger where it belongs.
Read the OSHA August 13 guidance here.
Read the OSHA FAQ on vaccine reportable events here.
