The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that forces employers with 100 employees or more to impose vaccination and testing requirements on their employees by January 4. It also includes burdensome recordkeeping, paid time off and masking requirements. While the standard currently only applies to employers with 100 or more employees, OSHA is considering expanding the requirement to smaller employers.

At the same time, Congress is considering drastically increasing workplace safety penalties through their reconciliation bill. Under the bill, fines would increase up to $700,000 for each violation, ten times their current rates. 

Right now, our nation is facing a looming economic storm – from rising inflation to supply chain backlogs to millions of unfilled job openings. If OSHA moves forward with the ETS as scheduled and Congress enacts dramatic increases to penalties, economic challenges are all but guaranteed. 

Contact your representatives Congress and tell them retailers want SAFETY, NOT MANDATES. Urge them to support efforts to withdraw the ETS and the 10-fold penalty increases in the budget reconciliation bill.