September 22, 2021
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Florida Law Firms Prepare for OSHA Vaccine Mandate | Daily Business Review - Law.com

A nurse loads the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to be administered to a patient. Credit: OleksSH/Shutterstock

What You Need to Know

  • Florida law firms have higher vaccination rates than the state population, but firm leaders are looking for ways to comply with an OSHA mandate while keeping top talent.
  • Two firm leaders said their firms won't pay for weekly testing out-of-pocket, which could cost $100 or more per test.
  • Legal challenges will likely follow any OSHA standard, but a Foley & Lardner employment lawyer said the standard has a good shot at surviving them.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden announced that companies with 100 or more employees must begin requiring vaccines or submit unvaccinated employees to weekly COVID-19 testing. While Florida law firm leaders await a forthcoming emergency temporary standard (ETS) from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, those impacted face questions that could affect their ability to bring attorneys and staff together and retain their top lawyers.

According to firm leaders, recruiters, and labor and employment lawyers, those considerations include: Who pays for weekly testing? How much to push back against “sincerely held religious beliefs” that are disingenuous? And, perhaps most importantly, will a mandate push away talented attorneys at a time when many firms can’t hire quickly enough?

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source: https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2021/09/22/florida-law-firms-prepare-for-osha-vaccine-mandate/

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