Business groups ask White House to delay vaccine mandate until after holiday season
Retailers also are particularly concerned that the mandate could trigger a spike in resignations that would exacerbate staffing problems.
Several business groups, facing both a labor shortage and supply chain breakdown, are asking the Biden administration to delay its vaccine mandate until after the holiday season.
The American Trucking Associations warned the administration last week that many drivers likely will quit rather than get vaccinated, further disrupting the national supply chain at time when the industry is already short 80,000 drivers.
“Now placing vaccination mandates on employers, which in turn force employees to be vaccinated, will create a workforce crisis for our industry and the communities, families and businesses we serve,” Chris Spear, the association’s president and CEO, wrote in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget.
Related: Employers with vaccine mandates offer insights into what others may expect
Retailers also are particularly concerned that the mandate could trigger a spike in resignations that would exacerbate staffing problems at businesses already short on people, said Evan Armstrong, a lobbyist at the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
“It has been a hectic holiday season already, as you know, with supply chain struggles,” Armstrong said after a meeting with White House officials. “This is a difficult policy to implement. It would be even more difficult during the holiday season.”
Thirty percent of unvaccinated workers said they would leave their jobs rather than comply with a vaccine or testing mandate, according to a KFF poll published last month. Goldman Sachs, in an analysis published in September, said the mandate could hurt the already tight labor market. However, it said survey responses are often exaggerated and not as many people actually may quit.
OSHA delivered its final rule to the OMB on Oct. 12, and the mandate is expected to take effect soon after the agency completes its review. However, former officials at OSHA, which will enforce the mandate, told CNBC that businesses likely will have some time to implement the rules.
Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary of OSHA during the Obama administration, said the administration probably will give businesses about 10 weeks until employees must be fully vaccinated. However, the compliance date could come sooner for weekly testing, he said.
“OSHA has always had provisions where its required equipment, for example, that may be in short supply to suspend enforcement if an employer can show it’s made a good-faith effort to procure that equipment,” Barab said. “They may make a relatively early date for weekly testing but also provide some additional time in case supplies are not adequate.”
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