We’re relieved for Hoosier employers that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down OSHA’s emergency temporary standard that would have required certain employers – those with 100 or more workers – to mandate vaccines or testing. That was a clear case of federal overreach and a blatant attack on employers’ rights.
The Indiana Chamber was adamantly opposed to the federal government weighing in and telling employers that they would have to require vaccinations and/or testing. We think it was particularly onerous that the OSHA rule would have required employers to fire employees who refused to either get vaccinated or regularly test for COVID-19. It’s not the federal government’s place to get involved in personnel decisions and tell employers who to fire or when they need to fire people.
The record keeping requirement also would have been such an additional burden and detraction from core business operations, which have already been hit hard the last two years. And the threat of a $14,000 fine per violation was a transparent strong-arm tactic.
But it wasn’t all good news today from the Supreme Court. We were disappointed that the Court upheld the federal government’s vaccine mandate for most health care workers. Because again, that’s dictating employee policy to employers that know their workplaces and workforce best.
We are now hyper-focused on the related activity at the Indiana General Assembly. What’s in House Bill 1001 becomes all the more critical now that the state law will be the law of the land with no federal mandate. As currently written, the legislation makes it virtually unfeasible for employers to continue with or implement a vaccine requirement if they choose to do so. The Indiana Chamber will certainly be redoubling its efforts to try to eliminate any interference from state government for those employers that want to take that step.
Kevin Brinegar is President and CEO of the Indiana Chamber and has been with the organization for nearly 30 years.
