Bell Nunnally Partner Alana K. Ackels is quoted in the Marketplace Morning Report public radio piece “New OSHA vaccination guidelines for large employers: Who pays what?” regarding the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issuance of a COVID-19 rule requiring companies with 100 or more workers to mandate coronavirus vaccinations by January 2022, or have those individuals opting out submit to weekly testing.

Ackels, noting that companies under current guidelines are required to provide time off aside from standard sick time for COVID-19 vaccinations, do have greater discretion when it comes to what kind of sick time is granted for absences related to vaccine side effects, “Now, it’s a little different for the reasonable time off to recover.”

As part of the proposed new OSHA rule, companies do not need to pay for tests for employees opting out of vaccination. Ackels commented, “Which I think was a relief for a lot of businesses because this could get really expensive really fast.”

To read/hear the full piece, please click here.