What They’re Saying: Job Creators Oppose Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Businesses

WASHINGTON — Job creators have come out strongly against President Biden’s vaccine mandate for private businesses, a massive federal government overreach.

Senator Braun is leading the Congressional Review Act resolution to challenging the vaccine mandate for businesses, which is co-sponsored by a group of 43 Senate Republicans including Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB):

“Small business owners continue to face numerous challenges to operate, stay open, and pay their employees, and today’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard makes that even more difficult and troublesome,” said Karen Harned, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “We will closely review this new standard and its rapid deadlines, but NFIB remains opposed to this rule that restricts the freedom of small business owners to decide how best to operate their own businesses and imposes unwarranted burdens on small businesses that further threaten the small business recovery.”

National Retail Federation:

“Over the past 19 months, retailers across the country have taken extraordinary measures to keep their employees, customers and communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of these efforts, retailers have distributed, encouraged, incentivized and, in some instances, mandated the vaccine. Since the president’s announcement of the vaccine mandate for private industry, the seven-day average number of cases in the United States has plummeted by more than half. Nevertheless, the Biden administration has chosen to declare an ‘emergency’ and impose burdensome new requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season. As an industry that supports one in four American jobs, retailers have consistently requested that the administration take public comment on this new vaccine mandate. Last month, NRF met with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and stressed the importance of the feasibility of implementation for employers. It is critical that the rule not cause unnecessary disruption to the economy, exacerbate the preexisting workforce shortage or saddle retailers, who are already taking considerable steps to keep their employees and customers safe, with needless additional requirements and regulatory burdens.“

Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA):

“The current 60-day timeline doesn’t afford retail that opportunity, and it falls short of the 75 days the government originally gave itself to implement a mandate on federal employees —a period they have now lengthened for government contractors while imposing a much stricter standard on the private sector. While the mandate on private employers technically begins post-holiday, the planning time to design and implement the mandate will fall during the busiest part of the shopping season. We also remain concerned about the nation’s testing capacity and have expressed those concerns to the Biden-Harris administration as they work to ramp up testing capacity across the country. Retailers appreciate that the ETS does not apply to remote workers. Preempting these workers will alleviate some strain on the demand for tests, however, the prohibition of self-attestation will require employers to monitor employees, creating a logistical bottleneck for large employers like retail. Retail remains ready partners in the shared goal of increasing vaccination rates. However, the fines threatened in this order of $13,653 to $136,532 are unnecessary and unhelpful–it pits the government against private employers instead of working with them to create a safe working environment. We hope OSHA will choose to work collaboratively with retailers during what is shaping up to be a hectic holiday season coupled with a global supply chain crisis, which is already testing retail operations across the country.”

American Trucking Association:

“While much of the country was sequestered in their homes, the trucking industry served its essential function and did so successfully with safety standards developed by public health experts,” said the Oct. 21 letter, signed by ATA President Chris Spear. “Now placing vaccination mandates on employers, which in turn force employees to be vaccinated, will create a workforce crisis for our industry and the communities, families, and businesses we serve. …“Unfortunately, however, the anticipated Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule as outlined together with the federal contractor vaccination mandate will have vast unintended consequences.”