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This month, Governor Hochul announced that the Commissioner of Health has designated COVID-19 as a “highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under New York State’s HERO Act.”

Former Governor Cuomo had previously signed the NY HERO Act into law on May 5, later amending the legislation in three main areas on June 11. The NY HERO Act requires employers to develop airborne exposure prevention plans and communicate them to employees. Under Governor Cuomo, the plans were required to be adopted by August 5 but were not required to be in effect. Now, Governor Hochul’s designation requires that the airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans be activated by employers and abided by employees.

What Do Employers Need to Do Now?

1. Employers should understand what the New York State HERO Act entails. As we previously reported, the HERO Act has two main sections governing (1) the development and adoption of a workplace prevention policy for airborne infectious diseases, and (2) the creation of workplace safety committees.
2. Review the industry-specific templates posted by the New York State Department of Labor in consultation with the New York State Department of Health. 
3. Ensure their airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans meet  the NYS DOL and NYS Department of Health minimum standards and model plans.
4. Communicate the plan to all employees. The prevention plan should be posted in the workplace in a visible location and distributed to all employees.
5. Lastly, employers and employees should follow their prevention plans and look out for any new guidance from the state.

CMM will continue to provide updates. For guidance on the NY HERO Act or adopting your own prevention plan now that plans must be activated, please contact us. 

For more information on the NY HERO Act, read CMM’s “What Employers Need to Know about HERO Act Obligations” article here.

On September 9, President Biden announced his six-part plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and Delta variant. Among these six points include vaccine mandates for employers with 100+ employees. Here, a look at Biden’s plan and what employers need to know regarding the new vaccine mandates.

All employers with 100+ employees must ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly.

The Biden administration has directed the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a rule requiring all employers with more than 100 workers to introduce regular weekly testing or mandate the COVID-19 vaccine through an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).

A senior White House official has been quoted as suggesting that any business that does not comply with the new rules could face up to $14,000 in fines per violation; however, whether this ultimately becomes part of the OSHA rules remains to be seen. Companies will have to pay for the testing, but could be allowed to pass the cost on to their employees.

The mandatory vaccine or weekly testing will be implemented and enforced through OSHA’s ETS; however, no regulations have been released yet, which means there are no compliance dates as of this writing. When the ETS is released, it will most likely include similar guidance as the COVID-19 healthcare ETS that became effective this past June. The ETS will most likely supply fact sheets and summaries about the rule as well as implementation presentations and checklists. As for enforcement, OSHA will need to provide inspection procedures to establish uniform enforcement for employers.

OSHA is developing a rule requiring employees to be offered paid time off for vaccination and to recover if they are under the weather post-vaccination.

While earlier this year New York implemented up to four hours of paid leave to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (see DOL details here), OSHA will require employers with more than 100 employees to provide paid time off for the time it takes for workers to get vaccinated or to recover if they are under the weather post-vaccination. This requirement will be implemented through the ETS as well and the details remain to be seen.

Lastly, the plan requires the vaccine for healthcare workers at Medicare and Medicaid participating hospital and healthcare settings.

This action builds on the vaccination requirement for nursing facilities and will apply to nursing home staff as well as staff in hospitals around the country. This includes clinical staff, volunteers, and staff who are not involved in direct patient, resident, or client care.

CMM will continue to provide updates on the implementation of the “Path out of the Pandemic” plan. If you have questions on the new vaccine or testing mandate, please contact us.