OSHA may not be enforcing their ETS at a federal level, but that isn't stopping some state and local governments from moving forward with their own guidelines requiring employers to track employee vaccinations and enforce testing.

In California, employers must comply with the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention ETS, which was updated in December 2021 with changes that include the adoption of California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidance on isolation and quarantine recommendations.

These revisions, which went into effect on Jan. 14, include things like updated standards for acceptable face coverings and new definitions for the term "fully vaccinated." However, the changes that are likely to have the biggest operational impacts on employers revolve around return-to-work requirements and testing protocols.

In this article, we'll summarize these changes and explain how California employers can reduce the administrative burden of complying with them.

Return-to-work requirements

One of the most impactful revisions to the Cal/OSHA ETS concerns the timelines and requirements for allowing employees to return to work following a positive test or close contact. The return-to-work criteria in the revised ETS are as follows:

Employees who test positive for COVID

Any employee, regardless of their vaccination status, must isolate for a minimum of 5 days if they test positive for COVID.

An employee may return to the workplace after day 5 if symptoms are not present or are resolving and a diagnostic test collected on day 5 comes back negative. If they return to the workplace after day 5, they must wear face covering around other for 10 days following the positive test.

If the employee does not undergo testing or if their symptoms do not resolve, they may return to work once their symptom resolve or until after day 10. The one exception is a fever – an employee may not return to work until their fever resolves.

Employees who are exposed to COVID

Unvaccinated

Employees who are not fully vaccinated are required to quarantine for a minimum of 5 days if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.

The exposed employee must take a COVID test on day 5, and if no symptoms are present and the specimen tests negative, the employee may return to the workplace. If the employee does not undergo testing and does not have symptoms, they may return to the workplace after day 10. If they test positive, they must follow isolation requirements.

Fully vaccinated

If an employee is fully vaccinated with a booster or they are fully vaccinated but not yet eligible for their booster, they are not required to quarantine after exposure to someone with COVID.

However, they must test negative on day 5 following exposure, as well as wear facial coverings around other for 10 days following exposure. If they develop symptoms, they must be excluded from the workplace pending test results, and if they receive positive test results, they must isolate.

Vaccinated but not boosted despite eligibility

If a vaccinated employee is booster-eligible but has not received their booster yet, they are required to quarantine and obtain a negative tests 3-5 days after being exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Regardless of test results, they must wear facial coverings around others for 10 days following the exposure.

Testing standards and availability

Additional revisions to the Cal/OSHA ETS seek to improve the standards and availability of COVID testing in the workplace. These changes include:

Improving the integrity of self-administered tests

The definition of "COVID-19 test" now includes specific instructions for workers using a test at home with self-read results.

According to Cal/OSHA ETS, "over-the-counter (OTC) tests may not be both self-administered and self-read unless observed by the employer or an authorized telehealth proctor."

Making testing widely available during outbreaks

In the event of an outbreak, employers must make weekly COVID-19 testing available to all employees, regardless of their vaccination status. For major outbreaks, employers must make testing available to all employees on a twice-weekly basis (or more frequently depending on local health department recommendations).

A vaccination and COVID test tracking solution for California employers

All of the requirements in the Cal/OSHA ETS are designed to make workplaces safer, but that leaves employers holding a bag brimming with logistical and administrative headaches.

From juggling all the complex variables of the return-to-work process to arranging for independent observation of employee testing, there's an awful lot of moving parts employers need to consider.

That's why employers in California are turning to BP Logix's Vaccine Tracker App to manage their workplace vaccination/testing policy. With this solution, employers can ensure compliance with the Cal/OSHA ETS, keep employees safe and fit for duty, and reduce potential impacts to revenue during an outbreak.

Ready to learn more about vaccine tracking for employers in California? Book a free demo today.

With all the recent legal challenges to federal vaccine requirements, there's a lot of confusion about the status of not only the OSHA ETS but also the CMS mandate.

While the OSHA ETS has likely exhausted its chances of passing, the Supreme Court has allowed the CMS mandate to move forward per a recent ruling on Jan. 13 that overturned stays of the CMS mandate that had been applied to 25 states.

There are still court cases pending, although given the ruling, it would appear that those legal battles will face a significant challenge in getting the CMS mandate overturned.

In this article, we explain everything you need to know about the CMS and walk through what healthcare organizations need to be doing right now to prepare.

The CMS mandate, explained.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate was first announced in September 2021 as component of President Biden's sweeping vaccination plan that also included the OSHA ETS and federal contractor mandate. Broadly, this mandate would require vaccination of any staff working in healthcare facilities that participate in Medicare/Medicaid.

Let's explore some common questions about the CMS mandate:

1. What healthcare facilities are covered under the CMS mandate?

The CMS mandate applies to healthcare facilities regulated by Medicare, including:

• Ambulatory surgery centers (ASC)
• Clinics
• Community mental health centers
• Comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities (CORF)
• Critical access hospitals (CAH)
• End-stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities
• Home health agencies (HHA)
• Home infusion therapy suppliers
• Hospices
• Hospitals
• Intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities
• Long-term care facilities
• Medicare federally qualified health centers (FQHC)
• Programs for all-inclusive care for the elderly organizations (PACE)
• Psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTF)
• Public health agencies as providers of outpatient physical therapy and speech-language pathology services
• Rehabilitation agencies
• Rural health clinics (RHC)

The CMS rule does not apply to most physician groups, even if they participate in the Medicare or Medicaid program.

2. How is the CMS mandate different from the OSHA ETS vaccine-or-test guidelines?

Unlike the OSHA ETS, the CMS mandate is a full vaccination mandate. There is no option for testing, although there are still provisions for accommodations based upon disability, medical reasons or sincerely held religious beliefs. Also, the CMS mandate applies to all staff in covered healthcare facilities, not just employees. This includes licensed practitioners, students, trainees and volunteers. The mandate also applies to any individual who provides care, treatment or any other service for the facility or their patients.

3. What are the compliance deadlines for the CMS mandate?

There are two sets of deadlines for states, depending on whether the state was one of the 25 where the stay had been in place or not.

For providers in the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and the 25 states where the stay was not in place, the deadlines are as follows:

• By January 27, CMS will expect covered facilities to have developed and implemented policies and procedures to ensure that all staff are vaccinated and that 100% of staff have received at least one dose of the vaccination, or have a pending request for, or have been granted a qualifying exemption.
• By February 26, those facilities must also ensure that 100% of staff have completed their vaccine series or have been granted a qualifying exemption.

The 25 states subject to these deadlines are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

For the 24 states in which the CMS had been stayed (until being lifted by the SCOTUS ruling), the deadlines are as follows:

• By February 14, covered facilities are expected to have developed and implemented policies and procedures to ensure that all staff are vaccinated and that 100% of staff have received at least one dose of the vaccination, or have a pending request for, or have been granted a qualifying exemption.
• By March 15, those facilities must also ensure that 100% of staff have completed their vaccine series or have been granted a qualifying exemption.

The 24 states subject to the deadlines above are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

What about Texas?

Texas is a special case in which the compliance deadlines have not been determined yet.

4. What happens in the event of non-compliance?

CMS has stated that within 90 days of the issuance of applicable guidance (on December 28, 2021 or January 14, 2022, depending on whether the state had been stayed or not), facilities that fail to maintain compliance may be subject to enforcement action.

That enforcement remedy for non-compliance is termination of the provider’s ability to offer Medicare and Medicaid services, although for nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospices, CMS may impose civil monetary penalties or deny payments. For CMS, however, the primary goal is to bring facilities into compliance. Termination or penalties would only occur after a facility is provided with an opportunity to make corrections and come into compliance.

What should healthcare employers be doing about the CMS mandate?

There are 4 things that healthcare providers need to consider when evaluating their next steps.

1. Confirm whether they are a covered facility.

Simply receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds does not by itself mean that a facility is covered by this rule. The rule only applies to certified providers which involves an application and surveying process, adherence to conditions of participation and being subject to period follow-up surveys. There is a list below that identifies the types of facilities that would qualify as a covered facility.

2. Roll out a facility vaccination policy aligned with CMS requirements.

If they are a covered facility, they need to be tracking vaccination status and issue a policy by January 27 (or February 14). The facility should determine and continue to track the vaccination status of its staff. Covered facilities should have developed policies describing how applicable tracking has been implemented along with compliance, recordkeeping documentation and training requirements. Also, procedures should have been implemented to ensure confidential consideration and responses to requests for accommodation, which would include any additional precautions that would be applicable to individuals who are granted accommodations. The facility needs to be prepared for CMS inspections, which will likely begin in the next few weeks or months.

3. Understand how the CMS mandate intersects with other orders.

They need to be aware of state laws or executive orders which conflict with the CMS mandate. Those states are primarily Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Montana. Usually, a federal law would prevail but with the litigation environment, facilities should be prepared for further legal challenges.

4. Have a plan to handle employee requests for accommodations.

As providers who may have already mandated vaccines are aware, employees will make requests for accommodations based on medical or religious reasons. Prompt and appropriate processing of those requests is crucial to complying with both the CMS mandate as well as other federal laws. It is critical to directly engage with employees in this interactive process and documenting that process and those efforts are extremely important.

Prepare for the CMS mandate

Complying with the CMS mandate doesn't have to be a logistical nightmare. Comply with the federal CMS mandate and make it as easy as possible for staff to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination status with the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker.

Book your free demo today.

After spending the better part of two months winding its way through the courts, OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on Vaccination and Testing has finally reached the Supreme Court.

Based on how the arguments played out last week, many legal experts predict the ETS is likely to be struck down, which begs the question:

If the Supreme Court blocks the ETS from moving forward, are employers off the hook for adopting a workplace policy requiring employees to be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing?

Not necessarily.

Regardless of the fate of the OSHA ETS, employment law experts agree that doing nothing is not an option. Let's walk through the four main reasons why employers should start tracking employee vaccinations and testing sooner rather than later.

1. Employers must still contend with state and local requirements

Even without federal-level guidelines requiring employers to implement vaccination policies, there are still state and local governments that have rolled out their own laws and mandates.

California, New York, and Illinois enacted vaccine mandates months ago, and some states, like Minnesota, have adopted the ETS as part of their OSHA state plan.

At a local level, cities like Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia have also announced vaccine requirements for many businesses operating indoors.

Multi-state employers have even greater challenges

Employers will obviously need to be prepared to comply with their specific jurisdiction’s laws, but the situation is even more complicated for employers that operate in multiple states. Multi-state employers must contend with workplace vaccination requirements that vary widely across multiple jurisdictions.

For example, an employer may have to simultaneously accommodate requirements from states that have instituted strict employee vaccination mandates, while also taking care not to overstep in states that have instituted bans on requiring employee vaccination.

Complying with the requirements of multiple jurisdictions results in a significant administrative burden for HR teams, which is why technology needs to play a key role in managing such complexity. That’s why we equipped our Vaccine Tracker app with functionality that allows employers to create multiple policies under which employees can be classified.

2. Vaccination and testing policies can help employers avoid lawsuits by reducing their liability

Another huge reason employers need to get serious about rolling out an employee vaccination policy? Avoiding lawsuits from employees.

The OSH Act’s “General Duty” clause says employers have a “general duty” to ensure a safe workplace for employees. This clause is not dependent on the passing of the OSHA ETS, which means that the potentially fatal consequences of doing nothing to mitigate the spread of the virus within a workplace can result in costly litigation, OSHA penalties, and considerable hits to a brand’s reputation. 

It's no surprise to see the uptick in employment and labor lawsuits related to COVID-19. According to the Jackson Lewis COVID-19 Employment LitWatch, there have been 287 cases citing workplace safety since March 2020.

See’s Candies hit with COVID-19 wrongful death suit

One of the most notable cases is a wrongful death suit filed in California against See’s Candies. An employee of the company claimed general negligence and premises liability after she contracted COVID-19 at her workplace and passed it on to her husband, resulting in his death.

What’s interesting about this case is the court’s decision that the employee’s COVID-19 negligence claims are not subject to exclusive remedy provisions in the state’s workers compensation law. Sometimes referred to as “the great bargain,” exclusivity provisions are designed to shield employers from civil litigation involving liability and negligence in exchange for providing injured workers with compensation for workplace injuries.

When See’s Candies cited exclusive remedy provisions as a reason to dismiss the lawsuit, the courts refused. Their reasoning was that the “grand bargain” does not extend to injuries and deaths of non-employees because exclusivity provisions are an arrangement between employer and employee.

So, how do employers avoid lawsuits like this? 

While employers in states with stricter requirements around employee vaccination and testing may already be legally compelled to cultivate a safe workplace, employers in jurisdictions with more lax requirements should explore rolling out a policy that can insulate the company from future litigation.

“Employers should continue to monitor guidance from the CDC, local health departments, state requirements, and of course, OSHA, for implementing best practices in the workplace,” explains Melanie L. Paul, a Principal at Jackson Lewis, P.C. “Reliance on such guidance could be an employer’s best defense to COVID-19 lawsuits. And, even without the ETS, OSHA will continue vigorous enforcement. Temporary staffing agencies as well as other higher-risk industries are especially vulnerable to being targeted by OSHA for COVID-19 related inspections under OSHA’s Revised National Emphasis Program for COVID-19."

One idea for reducing liability is to implement a policy that aligns or draws from the OSHA ETS guidelines. Aligning your workplace policy with the OSHA ETS can reduce employer liability by serving as an affirmative defense in the event of litigation involving injuries stemming from an employee’s exposure to COVID-19.

"Federal OSHA sets a floor, not a ceiling,” Paul says. “OSHA state plans, or any private employer, for that matter, can adopt the ETS or require even more to combat COVID-19.”

We’re already seeing this move from some private employers, as well as states like Minnesota, which have adopted the ETS as part of their OSHA state plan.

3. Tracking vaccinations and testing helps you manage incidents quickly and avoid short staffing or revenue loss

Keeping track of employee vaccinations and COVID test results can help employers ensure compliance and reduce legal liability, but there’s one other major business benefit to consider. Requiring vaccinations or testing in the workplace allows you to make smarter, more informed decisions about your business operations.

The need for these insights couldn't be more evident in the wake of the recent Omicron surge that left many workplaces reeling. As the highly contagious variant swept the nation, businesses were forced to run with skeleton crews or shut down completely for a few days because so many workers contracted the virus seemingly all at once.

Without knowing the vaccination or testing status of employees, you can’t accurately assess the risks in your workplace, nor will you be able to respond quickly enough to manage incidents and mitigate potential impacts to revenue.

For example, if you require employees to take a COVID test every week and disclose their test results, it’s much easier to spot and isolate potential outbreaks in the workplace before the virus spreads to more of your staff.

4. Clients of staffing firms and other vendors may require vaccination/testing proof for any worker placements

Rolling out an employee vaccination and testing policy is especially critical for businesses that place employees at client worksites. For example, staffing agencies that work with numerous clients must be able to accommodate the workplace policies of all of their clients. If they can’t, the staffing firm could risk losing business.

Making sure a staffing firm’s workforce can comply with policies across multiple client placements undoubtedly creates a lot of administrative burden, but technology can reduce that burden. In the case of staffing agencies, the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker allows administrators to create unique policies based on the requirements of each client worksite, which can then be applied the workers based on their placements.

Start tracking employee vaccinations and COVID testing in mere weeks

Whether or not the OSHA ETS is reinstated, employers should still prepare to track employee vaccination status if they want to truly reduce their risks in a global pandemic.

The BP Logix Vaccine Tracker application can help. This app makes it easy for large employers, staffing firms, and PEOs to:

• Track employee vaccination status, test results, and symptoms
• Comply with vaccination requirements across multiple jurisdictions
• Avoid COVID-related workplace liability lawsuits

Book a free demo today to get started:

As more employers roll out workplace vaccination policies that require employees to share their vaccination status and/or COVID test results, there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the role of HIPAA in this effort. Do employers need to comply with HIPAA policies when collecting and storing employee vaccination and testing data?

In this article, we’ll explore employers’ responsibilities in safeguarding employees’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing data. But first, let’s answer the most burning question:

Does HIPAA apply to employee vaccine tracking?

No. HIPAA requirements do not apply to employers or any technology they use to track their employees’ vaccination data in this situation because they are not a covered entity under HIPAA. Any vaccination or testing data an employer collects is considered employee data, rather than patient data.

To explain why, let’s dive a bit deeper into how HIPAA works.

What is HIPAA? What is a covered entity?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a United States federal law that ensures the protected health information (PHI) of the patient is not disclosed to anybody without the consent of the patient or the patient’s authorized representative.

There are four covered entities of HIPAA. According to HIPAA, a covered entity is an individual, institution, or organization that is involved in the transaction of protected health information. This transaction may be related to healthcare status, enrollment, treatment, insurance, and payment.

The covered entities of HIPAA are:

• Healthcare providers: Including doctors, nursing professionals, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other entities that transmit patients’ health information electronically.
• Health plans: Including insurance companies, government insurance agencies that pay for programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, health maintenance firms, and military health programs, and veteran’s health programs.
• Healthcare clearinghouses: Entities that act as intermediaries between healthcare providers and health insurers. These clearinghouses process non-standard health information and convert it into the standard that meets the HIPAA regulations.
• Business associates: Individuals or companies that have access to, store, and disseminate the patients’ health information.

All covered entities of HIPAA must comply with the HIPAA Security Rule that safeguards the patient’s electronically stored health information. To comply with the HIPAA Security Rule, covered entities should execute the following responsibilities:

• Ensure the confidentiality of patients’ protected health information.
• Detect threats and protect the information against these threats.
• Restrict the impermissible uses and disclosures of the data.
• Ensure compliance by workforce.

Employers are not considered one of the four covered entities under HIPAA. Any vaccination or testing data shared with an employer is considered employee data, not patient data for which the HIPAA privacy rule applies.

Regardless of HIPAA, keeping employee data secure is still crucial

Although employers need not worry about HIPAA compliance, they aren’t completely off the hook. Just like any other employee data, employers still have a general responsibility to keep their employees’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing data confidential and secure.

Failing to safeguard employee data – whether it’s contact information, social security numbers, or COVID-19 vaccination and testing data – can have a serious, life-changing impact on employees. In a recent study conducted by Kaspersky, nearly 48% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), where a minimum of one data breach happened in the previous year, reported the incidents harmed the overall work experience of employees.

In addition to lowering employee morale, poor management of employee data can result in major repercussion for employers in the form of PR debacles and legal problems. Organizations that don’t follow legal guidelines for safeguarding data could face legal action from their employees. For example, employee data is legally protected under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). A data breach or poor management of employee data could result in lawsuits from employees in the State of California.

To avoid these issues, employers need to identify a secure way to collect, store, and maintain employee COVID-19 vaccination data and test results. The most efficient and secure way to do this is to implement a vaccine tracking solution that takes the privacy and security of employees’ health information seriously.

When researching vaccine tracking solutions, employers should look for applications that:

1. Are hosted in a secure cloud SOC2 environment. According to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), SOC2 is a compliance standard that meets the five trust service principles, which include security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy).\
2. Meet the international and industry-specific compliance standards such as ISO/IEC 27001:2013, and NIST SP 800-53.
3. Allow administrators to define the user roles and allow the data access to only a few authorized people.

Why should I be tracking my employees’ vaccination status?

With all the complexity that comes with ensuring the security of employee vaccination and test data, some employers may wonder if it’s even worth the effort.

Tracking vaccination status and safeguarding the employee data related to COVID-19 vaccination or testing with the help of a vaccine tracking application can benefit the organization in several ways.

Watch the full webinar.

Here is a list of several reasons why organizations should be tracking employee COVID-19 vaccination status.

Avoid lawsuits

There is a growing number of COVID-related workplace lawsuits being filed by employees under the OSH Act's General Duty clause, which states that employers are responsible for providing employees with a generally safe workplace. Implementing a solution now can help prevent COVID-related workplace liability lawsuits by reducing an employers’ general liability for unsafe workplaces. The OSH Act is not dependent on mandates.

Improved incident reporting

As reported by scientists of the University of Hong Kong, the Omicron variant can spread 70 times faster than the Delta variant. Left unchecked and unmonitored, the virus can spread very quickly in workplaces. Without vaccination records and weekly testing reports of unvaccinated employees, it can be incredibly difficult to make informed decisions impacting the daily operations and staffing of your workplace. Tracking vaccinations helps employers manage incidents and instill greater confidence for employees concerned about COVID transmission in the workplace.

Reduce manual processes and data entry

Collecting vaccination data from each employee and manually entering it into a system can be an administrative nightmare, especially for companies that operate in multiple states with varying vaccination policies.

The best way to automate this process is to implement a tracking application, such as the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker, that allows employees to easily upload vaccination proof and test results from desktops, smartphones, and tablets. A vaccine tracker solution helps the organization reduce the dependency on manual processes and data entry, improving the speed at which the organization identifies the unvaccinated employees, gathers proof of vaccination, and complies with any established policies or governmental mandates.  

Keep employees’ health data safe and secure

It is the responsibility of the organization to safeguard the employee’s health data. Manual processes can lead to data leakages and make the organization vulnerable to penalties and lawsuits. A vaccine tracker solution rolled out via secure cloud deployment (SOC2/3) helps organizations safeguard employees’ health data.

Keep track and keep safe with BP Logix

HIPAA makes sure that its covered entities, including healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and business associates don’t disclose the protected health information of patients to anybody without their consent.

Though employers don’t need to comply with HIPAA privacy rules while collecting, storing, disclosing, and disseminating employee vaccination and testing data in this COVID-19 situation, they may still want to implement a vaccine tracking solution to eliminate the chances of employee’s health data breach and manual oversight.

Employers should choose a vaccine tracking solution that can be hosted in a secure cloud SOC2, meet international compliance standards, and allow data access to only a few authorized people.

Effectively track employee vaccination information and comply with COVID-19 vaccination mandates with the help of the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker application.

Take a tour of the app and request your demo today.

COVID-19 and the workplace

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted labor markets and different sectors across the world in 2020. Regulatory bodies have come up with a wide range of standards for employers and instructions for compliance officers to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workforce. For instance, OSHA issued an emergency testing standard (ETS) mandate to protect employees from the risk of COVID-19.

In this article, we’ll review OSHA’s ETS vaccine mandate, its requirements for employers, effective dates, and ramifications of non-compliance.

First, what is OSHA?

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor. It aims to improve workplace safety and facilitate healthy working conditions by enforcing standards and guidelines for employers. It also offers training, assistance, and education to employers on creating a secure workplace for working men and women.

The regulatory agency conducts inspections at workplaces and imposes fines for compliance violations. Inspections are often triggered by referrals, workplace fatalities, workplace injuries, and employee complaints. Inspections are conducted without any advance notice by trained compliance officers through telephonic discussions and/or on-site visits.

What is the OSHA ETS vaccine mandate, and what does it mean for my business?

OSHA issued an ETS that requires private employers operating with 100 or more employees to ensure all their workers get fully vaccinated. 

In lieu of the OSHA ETS COVID-19 vaccine mandate, employers should provide weekly COVID-19 negative test reports of employees and enforce wearing a face mask in the workplace (these rules may change from time to time based on the decisions of the Federal Government and the Department of Labor in conjunction with COVID-19 trends). 

A few vital aspects of OSHA’s ETS vaccine mandate for employers are:

Support for vaccination

As per the ETS, every employer should support the COVID-19 vaccination by:

1. Providing sufficient time for each employee to get vaccinated.
2. Offering a paid sick leave to recover from vaccination side effects.

Obtain and maintain records

As per the ETS mandate, employers must maintain a record of every employee’s vaccination status.

Employers need to provide proof of vaccination, which may include:

1. The medical report documenting the COVID-19 vaccination.
2. The COVID-19 vaccination record card itself.
3. The record of immunization from a healthcare provider or public health information system.

Weekly COVID-19 testing

Employers should conduct a weekly COVID-19 test for employees who are not fully vaccinated. If a remote employee is returning to the workplace, he or she should be tested for COVID-19 within 7 days before returning to work.

Communication

It is the responsibility of the employer to communicate ETS requirements, guidelines, policies, and standards to employees in a language they understand. 

The employer vaccine mandate is in place to protect workers from falling ill, spreading the virus, and in severe cases, passing away due to the virus. OSHA believes that the pandemic can be controlled if employers have a framework that emphasizes full vaccination, the use of face masks, frequent testing, and not allowing infected employees inside of the workplace.

Note: Even if a vaccine mandate from OSHA were to not exist, employers would still need to implement a vaccine tracking solution sooner rather than later because it’ll allow them to:

1. Reduce the administrative burden of managing variations in vaccine policies across the country.
2. Reduce the general liability of unsafe workplaces and avoid lawsuits from employees.
3. Monitor and maintain the general health of all employees to the best of their abilities.

Employers covered by the ETS

Private companies with 100 or more employees and state and local government employers with OSHA-approved State Plans are covered by the ETS. However, not all employees working for employers covered by the ETS are required to follow the provisions of the ETS.

The guidelines of the ETS do not apply to the following types of employees even though their employers are covered by the ETS:

1. Employees who are working from home.
2. Employees who work outdoors.
3. Employees who don’t attend workplaces where others are present.

Workplaces not covered by the ETS

OSHA believes that not all workplaces have the capability to implement programs that comply with the requirements in the ETS.

The following types of workplaces are not covered by the ETS:

1. The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force.
2. Healthcare settings that offer healthcare and support services.
3. Private companies with fewer than 100 employees.
4. Public employers in states without State Plans.

OSHA ETS vaccine mandate FAQs

What does the ETS require of employers?

Employers are responsible for:

• Implementing and enforcing workplace vaccination policy that either (a) requires mandatory vaccinations, or (b) allows employees to choose between vaccination or weekly COVID-19 testing.
• Providing information to employees about the ETS, COVID-19 vaccines, and workplace vaccination policy.
• Determining the vaccination status of all employees, obtaining valid proof of vaccination or weekly test results, and maintaining records to ensure compliance.
• Reporting work-related COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations to OSHA.

What employers are covered under the ETS? 

All employers currently under OSHA’s jurisdiction would be obligated to comply with the ETS if they have 100 or more employees. This accounts for approximately two-thirds of all U.S. workplaces in the private sector. 

What workers are counted under the 100-employee rule?

Generally, if a worker is directly employed by a company, they will be counted toward the 100-employee threshold that determines whether an employer is covered by the ETS. This includes:

• Remote employees
• Part-time employees
• Employees that work exclusively outdoors
• Temporary or seasonal workers

Are independent contractors counted under the 100-employee rule?

No, independent contractors are not counted.

How are workers from staffing agencies classified?

Staffing agencies hire workers and then coordinate placement at workplaces operated by “host” employers. Because the staffing agency is the legal employer of the worker, these workers are counted toward the staffing agency’s employee headcount, not the host employer’s.

Are some employees exempt from the ETS requirements?

Yes. Employees are not subject to ETS requirements if they work from home, work exclusively outdoors, or report to workplaces that do not have co-workers or customers present. However, these employees are still counted when determining whether an employer reaches the 100-employee threshold for ETS coverage.

What are the ramifications of non-compliance? 

Normally, employers face penalties up to $13,653 per violation for serious violations from OSHA. The penalty for failure to abate is $13,653 per day beyond the abatement date. These same penalties may apply to non-compliance with ETS after compliance dates.

When does the ETS  take effect?

The ETS technically went into effect on November 5, 2021 – the day it was published in the Federal Register. Enforcement was supposed to begin December 5, 2021 for all portions of the ETS other than testing and vaccination compliance date, which would have been January 4, 2022.

With current challenges to the OSHA ETS, the exact timeline for enforcement is up in the air.

What if I have operations in multiple states?

When operating in multiple states, you need to follow varying guidelines, standards, and timeframes applicable in each state. Let’s say you are operating in Alabama and Alaska. Alabama is a Federal OSHA state and Alaska is a State OSHA state. Therefore, you need to follow the standards and timelines of OSHA’s ETS for the operational unit located in Alabama and the State OSHA regulations for the operational unit located in Alaska.

Do remote employees need to comply with requirements?

Although remote employees count towards the 100-employee requirement (i.e. an employer with 75 onsite employees and 25 remote employees would come under the OSHA ETS),  ETS requirements, such as showing proof of vaccination and weekly testing, do not apply for remote employees.

Are employers required to collect proof of vaccination?

Yes. Under the ETS, employers will need to collect proof of vaccination from employees and maintain an updated, accurate record. An employee who does not produce proof of vaccination status must be treated as an unvaccinated employee.

Stay compliant with BP Logix’s vaccine tracker

Having a vaccine tracker with a customizable dashboard that offers an integrated view of the enterprise’s vaccination data would be helpful in staying compliant with the OSHA COVID-19 vaccine mandate guidelines.

BP Logix’s vaccine tracker includes an employee, supervisor, and administrative view for access by all employees of your company.

Comply with COVID-19 vaccination mandates and respond quickly to policy changes with the help of the BP Logix vaccine tracker application. Request a demo to see how it can assist your organization remain compliant!

You might have heard that there was some big news over the weekend concerning the OSHA ETS, which was stayed by the 5th Circuit Court in mid-November. Here are the three big takeaways, plus some insights for employers trying to decide what to do next.

1. The OSHA ETS stay has been lifted.

On Friday, December 17, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved the stay that the 5th Circuit had placed on the OSHA ETS. That means that the ETS is back in force.

Shortly after that decision was issued, multiple plaintiffs filed emergency applications for an immediate stay of the ETS with the Supreme Court of the United States. Those applications will be reviewed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is assigned to hear petitions from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Kavanaugh has several options:

• He has the authority to grant the petitioners’ applications and stay the ETS pending review of the entire Court.
• Given OSHA’s decision to delay compliance dates, he could refer the applications to the full Court for a decision.
• He could take no action on the applications pending review of the full Court.

The Supreme Court will try to avoid a scenario in which employers would take steps to implement the ETS only to have it invalidated later.

Although it is always difficult to predict how quickly a ruling might come, the speculation is that the Supreme Court will most likely take action in advance of January 10, 2022, to give employers some certainty.

2. The underlying merits of the ETS are still pending with the 6th Circuit.

The dissolution of the stay does not mean the ETS has passed. The final ruling is still pending with the 3-judge panel and even after their final ruling could still go to a full 6th circuit en banc review and decision.

3. Following the 6th Circuit ruling, an appeal may be made to SCOTUS.

Only after the final 6th Circuit ruling (either by the 3-judge panel or en banc) would an appeal be made to SCOTUS to make a final ruling. The Supreme Court may not issue on the underlying merits case, which it may choose to do. The Supreme Court often declines to hear cases.

What does all this mean for employers?

Here's a quick Q&A for employers wondering how to proceed in light of the OSHA ETS news:

• Should I start planning for ETS compliance? Legal experts strongly recommend getting a policy in place. That includes lining up testing resources if necessary, providing necessary communications to employees, collecting info on vaccination status and keeping roster, etc.
• What are the new timelines for compliance? The ETS is effective immediately. According to employment law firm Jackson Lewis, OSHA "will not issue citations for noncompliance before January 10, 2022. The agency also stated it will exercise its discretion and not issue citations for noncompliance with testing requirements under the ETS before February 9, 2022, if an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard."
• What is meant by “…reasonable, good faith efforts…” to come into compliance with the ETS? It's unclear at this point, but a degree of reasonable diligence is required to get everything in motion.
• Other than the dates, has any changed regarding testing requirements, accommodations, or exemptions? Nothing else changed.
• Will the OSHA ETS override state rulings (e.g. Florida or Texas state requirements conflicting with OSHA)? This answer depends on whether any of the decisions on the merits of the ETS address preemption arguments.

Webinar: Learn how to navigate the mandates

With all the up's and down's concerning the fate of the OSHA ETS, some employers are taking a "wait and see" approach before committing to roll out a vaccine policy.​ What do top employment lawyers recommend? "Start planning now."

Learn more in our free webinar featuring top employment/labor law experts from Jackson Lewis P.C., and be sure to check out BP Logix's Vaccine Tracker application.

How does your company plan to respond to employee vaccination mandates?

What does the Fifth Circuit’s decision to stay OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard mean for staffing agencies, PEOs and HROs? What is the best strategy for employers to mitigate risk while protecting their employees? What can employers do to prepare for the additional administrative burden of tracking employee vaccinations and test results?

Join BP Logix on Tuesday, December 14 at 11:00 AM PT for Vaccination Mandates: Imperatives for Staffing Firms, PEOs, and HROs, an educational webinar that explores these questions with the nation’s top employment law firm, Jackson Lewis P.C., and leading analyst firm, Intellyx.

Following the discussion of how staffing firms, PEOs, and HROs should respond to vaccination mandates in the wake of recent court challenges, our panel of legal and tech experts will answer your questions during a live Q&A session.

Can't attend the webinar?

Register today and we will send you a recording of the webinar after the event for you to review on your own time. If you have any other questions, please contact us.

Meet our panelists:

Melanie Paul, Jackson Lewis P.C.

Melanie L. Paul is a principal in the Atlanta, Georgia, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is co-leader of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health practice group. Her practice focuses on occupational safety and health and wage and hour issues. Melanie's clients benefit from her unique inside experience as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for more than a decade.

Jenifer Bologna, Jackson Lewis P.C.

Jenifer Bologna is a principal in the White Plains, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Jenifer is a member of Jackson Lewis’ Disability, Leave and Health Management group. She specializes in preventative advice and counsel primarily related to disability and leave management issues. Jenifer helps employers navigate the complex and growing body of federal, state and local laws, most notably the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Charles Araujo, Intellyx

Charles Araujo is an industry analyst, internationally recognized authority on the Digital Enterprise and author of The Quantum Age of IT: Why Everything You Know About IT is About to Change. He is Principal Analyst with Intellyx, the first and only industry analyst firm focused on agile digital transformation. He has authored three books and published over 100 articles. He has been a regular contributor to both InformationWeek and CIO Insight Magazine and has been quoted or published in magazines, blogs and websites including Time, CIO, CIO & Leader, IT Business Edge, TechRepublic, Computerworld, USA Today and Forbes.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Nov. 12 that blocks the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing.

In the ruling, the Fifth Circuit argued that the ETS "exceeds the bounds of OSHA's statutory authority."

Under the ETS, employers with 100 or more employees would be responsible for:

1. Implementing and enforcing a workplace vaccination policy that either (a) requires mandatory vaccinations, or (b) allows employees to choose between vaccination or weekly COVID-19 testing.
2. Providing information to employees about the ETS, COVID-19 vaccines, and workplace vaccination policy.
3. Determining the vaccination status of all employees, obtaining valid proof of vaccination or weekly test results, and maintaining vaccination records to ensure compliance.
4. Reporting work-related COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations to OSHA. 

In response to the court order, OSHA issued the following statement:

"While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation."

What employers need to know

Enforcement of OSHA's ETS was slated to begin on Dec. 5, so this recent ruling poses some interesting questions for employers that are currently exploring their options for employee vaccination tracking. Here are six key questions employers should be asking about Fifth Circuit's recent ruling on OSHA ETS.

1. Under the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, are employers still required to comply with the ETS? Can OSHA conduct audits or issue fines for non-compliance?  

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling functionally puts the ETS on a nationwide pause. While the ruling remains in effect, the federal government is prohibited from taking action to enforce the ETS. This means OSHA cannot conduct audits or issue fines until a decision is made. 

Although the ETS has been blocked, it’s important to note that the Fifth Circuit’s order is a temporary measure intended to maintain the status quo while appeals are pending. 

Because multiple parties have filed challenges to the ETS in multiple circuits, a consolidation proceeding known as a multi-circuit lottery will take place on November 16. This means the case may be transferred out of the Fifth Circuit before the court has a chance to issue a final ruling. Further, the federal government has the option of asking the US Supreme Court to dissolve this temporary stay. 

2. How long will it take to reach a final decision on this matter in the Court of Appeals or at the Supreme Court level? 

A final ruling from the Court of Appeals may take several weeks. It is also possible that the federal government will ask the US Supreme Court to dissolve this temporary stay. The Supreme Court could take much longer and if they were involved it would likely take place in Q1 2021.

3. What is the likelihood that OSHA's ETS will be diluted as a result of the legal challenges?

OSHA has the power to update and adopt new language to the original ETS. This power is intended to account for unconsidered items (e.g. booster shots), but it could also be used to make other changes, such as expanding the scope of exceptions or allowing additional time to meet the mandates.

However, it is unlikely that these changes would occur while challenges are pending. As part of its rulemaking procedures, OSHA is currently accepting comments, which the agency would take into consideration when finalizing a permanent standard.

4. If the Federal ruling is blocked, can states issue their own vaccine mandates for employers?  

Yes, states can and likely will issue their own vaccination mandates for employers.  

When OSHA enacts a federal-level emergency temporary standard, states are required to either (a) amend their standards to be identical or “at least as effective as” OSHA's new standard, or (b) demonstrate that their existing standard is “at least as effective” as the federal government’s new standard. 

However, some states may go a step further by adopting standards with even greater levels of protection and efficacy than what is required by OSHA. 

5. If the federal mandate holds up in the courts, how will OSHA enforce the mandate on such a large scale?  

OSHA has authority to review and determine non-compliance to the ETS mandate. They will likely focus their initial investigations on organizations that have willfully ignored the ETS. We also expect to see OSHA compliance investigations based on employee complaints about employer noncompliance.

6. Under the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, do employers still need to comply with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) interim final rule for healthcare workers and President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 on mandatory vaccinations for federal contractors?

The Fifth Circuit ruling has no impact on these rules. Employers should continue to adhere to these requirements as applicable. 

As employers with 100 or more employees join healthcare facilities and K-12 schools in efforts to comply with the federal COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements, professional employer organizations (PEOs) are facing some interesting questions about their role in this situation.

Let’s examine the some of the hurdles that co-employers must overcome in light of recent government mandates and executive orders. 

1. The burden of responsibility

PEOs provide comprehensive HR services to small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) through a legal arrangement known as co-employment. Under a co-employment partnership, the PEO take on the management of HR functions (payroll, employee benefits, taxes, etc) and assume a share of employer liability and responsibility for employment risks. By outsourcing most (or all) of their HR activities, business owners can reduce costs and focus their efforts on growing their business, revenue, and customer base.

What this means is that the company's employees are also legally employees of the PEO, which begs the question:

If PEOs legally share the role of employer with their clients, are they on the hook for ensuring their clients’ employees comply with vaccination and testing mandates?

At the moment, it’s unclear what level of responsibility PEOs should expect to bear when it comes to vaccination mandates, which brings us to the second challenge:

2. Becoming an expert in vaccination compliance

PEOs do more than simply handle payroll and send out annual W2s. They also regularly serve an advisory role to their clients for matters involving compliance and labor regulations.

Do PEOs have a plan for helping their customers navigate vaccine mandates and implement processes that reduce employee anxieties? They ought to. Companies involved in a co-employer partnership will be looking to their PEO for guidance and resources on how best to handle his uncharted territory. After all, it's a pretty complex task to confirm the vaccination status of a company's workforce and set up weekly testing for employees who are not fully vaccinated. 

PEOs will not only need to have a firm handle on federal and state mandate requirements – they must also be ready to provide their clients with a solution for tracking employee vaccinations and tests. If PEOs don’t have one at the ready, they should at the very least be able to direct their clients to a solution so that no one has to resort to the dreaded task of tracking vaccinations via spreadsheet.

3. Retaining clients and winning new business

It’s no secret that the pandemic drastically changed the nature of work and commerce. Businesses must adapt, and PEOs are no exception. As vaccination mandate deadlines close in, PEOs must make sure they are investing in digital tools and infrastructure that keep existing customers ahead of the compliance curve while also enticing potential new business to sign on the dotted line.

Tools for tracking vaccinations and tests are a prime example. If PEOs can't provide the necessary support and guidance to customers as they navigate vaccination mandates and other COVID-related policies, that could be a major dealbreaker for both current and potential customers.

Some larger players in the PEO industry know this and have already taken steps to adapt to rapidly shifting market needs by rolling out some simple vaccine tracking solutions for their clients or partnering with companies like BP Logix to provide a solution.

4. Identifying the best vaccine tracking solution for PEOs

Before we dive into what makes an ideal vaccine tracker for PEOs, let's first take a step back and talk about vaccine applications broadly.

Numerous applications for proving vaccination and testing status have rolled out over the past year, but there is no “one size fits all” solution. Why? Well, the end user goals of one vaccine status app may be completely different than the end user goals of another vaccine status app.

For example, while vaccine passports are incredibly useful for providing proof of vaccination on an individual basis (such as getting through the airport to catch flight to Hawaii), they don’t serve quite the same function as a vaccination tracking application for private employers, which boils down to trying to ensure compliance of mandates and manage large quantities of data collected from hundreds or even thousands of employees. 

With those goals in mind, a vaccination tracking app designed specifically for employers should offer the following features and benefits: 

• It should be accessible and mobile-friendly. 
• It should have workflow trigger for handling exemption requests and testing for unvaccinated people. 
• It should be simple to pull vaccination and testing data to prove compliance to regulatory bodies. 
• It should be flexible to scale with your organization as policies shift or expand.
• It should be ready for rapid deployment in order to meet mandate deadlines. 

5. Rolling out a vaccine tracking solution to client companies

When it comes to choosing a vaccine tracking solution, PEOs have an even more complicated task than independent employers. Not only must they find a solution that offers all of the features listed above, but they must also be able to roll it out to multiple co-employer clients at a reasonable cost.

BP Logix’s Vaccine Tracker app accomplishes this additional challenge with its multi-tenant model.

How? It all comes back to how co-employer partnerships work. In order to carry out their responsibilities within the arrangement, PEOs require their customers to provide them with access to employee information and core HR systems. BP Logix's multi-tenant model is able to leverage this technical arrangement for the Vaccine Tracker app to provide PEOs with lower pricing at scale, as well as the following benefits:

• Partitions between client companies and their data
• Customizable app configuration per client company
• Personalized in-app branding

Ready to learn more about our vaccine tracking solution for PEOs?

Schedule your customized demo of BP Logix's Vaccine Tracker app today.

As more private employers take the necessary steps to comply with state and federal mandates for tracking COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, many of them are seeking out solutions to make the effort as easy as possible.

Spreadsheets are often the first option to come to mind. After all, they are a “free” option and it’s fairly simple to set them up, even if you only have basic Excel experience. Unfortunately, that's where the advantages end.

Let’s take some time to break down exactly why it’s not a great idea to use spreadsheets for tracking vaccinations.

The limitations of spreadsheets

While spreadsheets are not the worst option for smaller employers that are only trying to monitor vaccination and testing for a handful of workers, they fall short for larger employers with 100 or more workers. Under the new OSHA rule, these larger employers are legally required to track vaccination status and testing for unvaccinated employees. This means that they must collect data from hundreds or even thousands of people and maintain records to ensure compliance.

Spreadsheets simply aren’t equipped to tackle that level of complexity or scale. A better option is to roll out a dedicated application that is specifically designed to collect vaccination and testing data, such as the Vaccine Tracker App. Let's dig a bit further into the disadvantages of spreadsheets.

1. Spreadsheets are tedious – for employers and employees alike

Manually collecting data from hundreds or thousands of people and then ensuring that data is entered correctly into a spreadsheet is a nightmare. It’s especially tedious when you consider the unvaccinated testing component of recent mandates, which requires employees to submit new data on a weekly basis and employers to keep records of that data. That's a lot for managers and HR teams to keep up with while also maintaining their regular job responsibilities. It's not too fun on the employee's end either.

Compared to spreadsheets, an application like the Vaccine Tracker provides a more accessible and mobile-friendly user experience for employers and employees alike. By making the tracking process as easy as possible, you can reduce barriers to access and maximize compliance. Applications also help employers reduce the time they spend agonizing over spreadsheet cells through the power of workflow automation and stronger verification features that circumvent the vaccination tracking “honor system."

2. Lack of exception handling

The lack of exception handling is, by far, one of the biggest limitations of using spreadsheets. As mentioned earlier, in addition to tracking vaccination statuses, employers must also have workflows in place for handling exceptions involving unvaccinated people, such as:

• Enforcing weekly COVID-19 testing and documenting results for compliance purposes.
• Collecting attestation for medical or religious exemption requests.
• Escalating contact tracing in the event of positive test results.

If these workflows aren’t automated, employers must devote significant administrative resources to sending out follow-up emails and weekly testing reminders, receiving proof of test results via email or text, manually updating employee data on a weekly basis, and keeping an eye out for instances of non-compliance that must be escalated. Depending on the size of the workforce, that can add up to several hours of work for administrative staff per week.

Exception handling is where vaccination tracking application shines. An application like our Vaccine Tracker handles exceptions with ease. If an employee indicates they are unvaccinated, the system triggers automated workflows and reminder notifications that help keep employees accountable to testing requirements.

3. Reporting and proving compliance is a headache

When tracking vaccinations, collecting the data is only one piece of the pie. Being able to make sense of that data through reports is just as important – especially for workplaces that must submit weekly or monthly reporting to regulators to ensure they are following through with mandates.

For example, when managing weekly testing for unvaccinated personnel, it’s helpful to have reports that tell you who has been tested and not tested that week, as well as see that data broken down by department or worksite. This allows employers to identify problem areas quickly and stay in compliance.

Unfortunately, this is yet another area where spreadsheets stumble. Using spreadsheet data to create reports and dashboards for these purposes can take hours, while a dedicated application takes only minutes.

4. Poor collaborative and integrative capabilities

Many organizations need vaccination data to make decisions, whether it’s deciding if facilities need to close temporarily due to an outbreak or determining if incentives should be offered for vaccinations. These kinds of decisions may require collaboration across different departments or worksites. In some cases, organizations may wish to share public-facing reports of their vaccination and testing data on a dedicated website for all to see.

This level of collaboration and transparency is difficult to achieve with a simple spreadsheet, which is limited in its capability to integrate with other data sources or applications.

For example, K-12 schools may need the ability to integrate with district data. Unfortunately, a spreadsheet isn’t powerful enough to enable pushes and pulls from HR information systems or applications like ClassLink single sign-on.

5. Poor security and data privacy best practices

While the way employers store employee vaccination data is not covered under HIPAA, it’s still important for organizations to treat their employee’s private data with care and respect.

Unfortunately, improper data sharing is not uncommon with spreadsheets. An application designed to help you track vaccinations and testing, on the other hand, will be provide a secure environment (e.g. SOC2 and HECVAT certified) and have the ability to add or remove decision makers and create rules-based permissions.

6. Prone to errors and instability

On top of poor data security, spreadsheets are more prone to human error. It’s easy to input incorrect data, alter or delete data, mess up conditional formatting, or even lose files completely – often without even realizing it. Plus, there’s no independent backups to rely on should disaster strike.

7. Dismal scalability

As vaccination and testing mandates evolve, the way you approach tracking this data must be able to keep up.

Spreadsheets are ill-equipped for adapting to changing requirements, and there are limits to the amount of data you can collect. The flexibility to scale and add new features is why it pays to choose a future-proofed solution at the beginning.

Discover the Vaccine Tracker app.

Discover how easy we make it for employees to confirm COVID-19 vaccination status or test results. Get in touch with the BP Logix team today to schedule a customized demo.

Tracking vaccination status in the workplace helps companies ensure compliance with government mandates, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee employee confidence.

That’s because the vast majority of vaccination tracking efforts are based on the honor system, which, as the Wall Street Journal explains, is “one in which health information is often given voluntarily, and employees have few ways to be sure their co-workers are following the rules.”

When faced with poor transparency and lax enforcement around vaccination policies, some employees are choosing to join the “Great Resignation” rather than endure the anxiety of returning to in-person worksites under unknown health risk factors. That's why it's becoming more critical than ever for employers to upgrade from the honor system to a more robust and accountable COVID-19 vaccination tracking process.

Let's walk through the vaccination tracking challenges faced by employers before and after the FDA's approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine, and then discuss where to start with building a truly strong workplace vaccination policy.

Vaccine hesitation in uncharted territory

Back when the vaccines were only available under emergency use authorization, it was not a big surprise that employers weren't exactly rushing to impose vaccination and testing mandates.

Even though a August 2021 survey by Mercer revealed that 65% of workers want their employer to mandate vaccinations, few businesses were eager to risk a potential lawsuit or deal with the headache of hiring new workers should unvaccinated employees choose to quit due to medical reasons or political or religious beliefs.

There’s also the matter of the costs required to implement a vaccination and testing program with actual teeth. While it’s quick, easy, and virtually free to establish a “you only have to wear a mask if you’re unvaccinated” policy based on the honor system, it takes significantly more resources to require employees to provide documentation confirming vaccination status or weekly test results. Since there were no governmental vaccination mandates up until recently due to the vaccines’ emergency use authorization status, there wasn’t much to compel employers to expend the necessary resources.

FDA vaccine approval flips the switch

Once the FDA approved the first COVID-19 vaccine, the floodgates opened to vaccination mandates across the United States. At the state level, many governors ordered vaccination and testing for K-12 school employees, and at the federal level, President Biden instituted a new OSHA rule that requires vaccinations or weekly testing for workers at private companies with 100+ employees. Businesses that do not comply could face OSHA fines of up to $14,000 per violation.

What this means is that worries over employee lawsuits have now been replaced by worries over fines and penalties for non-compliance. In addition, companies must grapple with the possibility of not only losing unvaccinated employees – but vaccinated employees, as well.

Backed by the clout of FDA authorization and governmental mandates, many vaccinated employees at in-person worksites are now expecting more from their employer when it comes to fostering a safe working environment. Instead of the honor system, these employees want to see employers offering stronger measures, such as:

• Disclosure of the number of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated workers at worksites
• Assurance that employees and visitors forgoing masks have been confirmed as vaccinated
• Clear processes for enforcing weekly testing of unvaccinated workers
• Contact tracing infrastructure to handle positive cases

How to build strong, accountable COVID-19 workplace policies and procedures

Workplace COVID-19 policies and procedures should ideally accomplish three key goals:

• Prevent the spread of disease in the workplace
• Comply with mandates to avoid fines and penalties
• Reduce employee anxiety about workplace safety

Of course, even with vaccination mandates on the rise and vaccinated employees feeling more confident in demanding safer pandemic workplace policies, that doesn’t change the resource cost of implementing a robust vaccination and testing program.

When you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of employees, manually checking paper CDC record cards and enforcing weekly testing of unvaccinated employees is simply not a feasible option. Combine these challenges with tight deadlines for complying with governmental mandates, it quickly becomes clear that automating these procedures as much as possible will be critical.

That’s exactly what BP Logix is helping employers do with the Vaccine Tracker App.

This secure, mobile-friendly application enables employees to easily upload proof of their vaccination status or test results, while providing administrators with a reporting dashboard to manage enforcement and access proof of compliance should OSHA come a-knocking.

Ready to strengthen employee confidence in workplace COVID-19 policies?

Get in touch with BP Logix today for a customized demo of the Vaccine Tracker app.

President Biden announced a sweeping federal vaccination plan last week that is making major waves in the private sector. Let’s walk through the details of this new plan and discuss the best way for employers to implement and enforce these new requirements with a vaccination tracking solution.

A summary of Biden’s vaccination plan

As part of Biden's plan, private employers with 100+ employees must ensure everyone in their workforce is either fully vaccinated or require unvaccinated employees to undergo weekly COVID-19 tests. Businesses that do not comply with the requirements may face fines up to $14,000 per violation from OSHA.

In addition to the vaccination mandate for private employers, Biden also expanded the scope of requirements for federal employees and health care workers. Vaccination is now required for all executive branch federal employees, all federal contractors, and all workers at hospitals and other healthcare facilities where Medicare and Medicaid patients are treated. There is no test-out option.

All in all, Biden estimates that his new plan will affect about two-thirds of all workers in the U.S.

The new federal requirements come just a couple weeks after several states announced similar vaccination and testing mandates for K-12 schools, many of which are slated to go into effect mid-October.

How private employers can implement and enforce vaccination mandates

With hefty fines and penalties on the line, employers are now on the hook for developing clear policies and procedures that comply with the mandates, as well as keeping records for compliance purposes.

According to the New York Times, the new OSHA rules would “require employers to keep records of which workers are vaccinated and which have recently been tested, [and] the agency could ask inspectors following up on unrelated concerns to check records for compliance with the vaccination rule.”

What's the best way for employers to implement and enforce these mandates to ensure optimal compliance – especially when they’re responsible for tracking hundreds or even thousands of employee vaccination records? Certainly not a spreadsheet. Employers need to be looking for an application that can automate the entire process for them.

Where to start? Here are seven critical questions to ask when researching applications for tracking employee vaccinations and testing.

1. How quickly must you roll out your tracking plan?

With looming compliance deadlines and the threat of fines, it’s important for organizations to find a solution that can be implemented quickly. A custom solution built from scratch by an in-house IT team or your company’s outsourced development vendor is unlikely to be ready in a span of just a few weeks. It’s more efficient to find an existing application, like the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker app, which can be deployed rapidly while remaining flexible enough to customize to a company’s unique needs.

2. Is your solution accessible and easy for employees to use?

When you’re trying to collect the vaccination statuses of hundreds or thousands of employees, the most effective solution is the one that is the easiest for everyone to use. Accessibility is key. A vaccination tracking app must be mobile-friendly so employees can use it whether they are on a smart phone, tablet, or desktop. Likewise, workflows must be logical and easy for users to navigate through.

3. How will you handle unvaccinated employees?

While vaccination rates continue to climb, there are still many people who are not vaccinated. Depending on your workplace’s policies, you will likely need to have automated workflows set up for handling exceptions, whether it’s gathering materials for medical or religious vaccine exemption requests or setting up a workflow that allows employees to share recent test results.

4. How will weekly testing for unvaccinated employees be enforced?

For many companies, employees that decline full vaccination will need to be tested for COVID-19 every single week. For compliance purposes, employers will need to cover all of their bases by making sure this data is collected every week. Manually collecting this information just isn’t feasible, but an automated system can keep everyone accountable by sending employees regular testing reminders, alerting managers to non-compliance, and triggering additional workflows in the event of a positive test results.

5. How will you sync data with existing HR systems?

Any good vaccination tracking solution should be able to easily integrate with an organization’s existing data sources, whether it’s a human resources information system, an enterprise resource planning system, or a student information system.

6. What is your plan for proving compliance?

Because OSHA is requiring employers keep records of employee vaccination and testing, one of the most important components to look for in a vaccine tracking app is a management dashboard that allows you to easily pull reports for your organization’s vaccination rates and testing history.

7. Will you be able to adapt to changing requirements?

The final thing to consider when researching solutions for tracking vaccination status is flexibility and scalability. If there is one thing we’ve all learned during this pandemic, it’s that things move fast. The application you choose must be able to evolve along with changing policies and current events. Not only does this help your organization respond quickly to new developments, but it can also help you avoid technical debt in the future.

Our solution? The Vaccine Tracker app

The Vaccine Tracker app is a flexible, mobile-friendly solution that enables employees to securely share proof of their vaccination status with their employer. For employees that are not fully vaccinated, the app can automatically handle exceptions by triggering workflows for weekly diagnostic testing, medical/religious exemption requests, and other escalation tasks.

Built using BP Logix’s powerful low-code platform called Process Director, the Vaccine Tracker app is endlessly customizable and easily scaled. In fact, while the app was originally designed for use at K-12 and higher educational institutions, the Vaccine Tracker app can be customized to suit the specific needs of any number of workplaces, including manufacturing plants, government facilities, retail establishments, private offices, and more.

Ready to automate vaccination tracking at your workplace?

Get in touch with BP Logix to learn more about our Vaccine Tracker app.

Here's our checklist of everything a K-12 school administrator must consider when researching automation solutions for tracking employee vaccination status. 

With students and teachers resuming in-person learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many K-12 school leaders are scrambling to identify the most effective solutions for complying with new vaccination and testing policies mandated at the state, local, or institution levels.

Like most things impacted by the pandemic, this is uncharted territory for everyone. However, one thing is clear: If you’re trying to quickly and securely track the vaccination statuses or weekly test results of hundreds or even thousands of people, a rudimentary spreadsheet just won’t do. Schools must be able to collect data efficiently, sync with existing IT systems, report data for compliance purposes, and be prepared to adapt quickly to ever-changing policy requirements.

So, how do school leaders pick the best solution for the job? How can they achieve compliance with budgetary constraints, limited IT resources, and aggressive timelines?

At BP Logix, we’ve spent the last year working closely with higher education institutions and K-12 schools on developing a vaccination tracking app customized for their unique needs. Through this experience, we've put together a checklist of everything school leaders need to keep an eye out for when evaluating applications for tracking COVID-19 vaccination status, test results, and contact tracing.

To ensure your district is prepared for these evolving requirements, look for solutions with the following capabilities. 

Key capabilities

• Ability for users to upload vaccine cards proving vaccination status
• Integration with district data (push/pull from HR, Student Information Systems, ClassLink)
• Flexibility to scale and adapt to changing requirements as mandates evolve
• Exception handling for unvaccinated individuals, including workflows for diagnostic testing and religious/medical exemptions with attestation
• Contact tracing workflow triggers for COVID-19 positive test results
• Automated alerts and notifications for reminders and non-compliance

User experience and accessibility

• Intuitive and mobile-friendly user experience
• Single Sign On enabled (SAML integration)
• Accessible for users with disabilities (VPAT)
• Institutional branding

Compliance

• Secure environment (HECVAT, SOC2)
• Data privacy

Implementation

• Speedy deployment to meet mandate timelines
• Cost effective
• Ability to easily customize to your unique needs

Management

• Reporting dashboards
• Visibility/ Escalations handling
• Administration (add/remove decision makers, rules based permissions, etc.)

Get the Vaccine Tracker app today.

Make it easy for employees to confirm COVID-19 vaccination status or test results. Get in touch with the BP Logix team today to learn more or schedule a customized demo.

With “back to school” season in full swing and the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Aug. 23, several states around the country have announced vaccination mandates for K-12 school systems. 

“We think this is the right thing to do and we think this is a sustainable way to keeping our schools open and to address the number one anxiety that parents like myself have for young children,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this month while announcing California’s new K-12 vaccine and testing mandate.

The vaccination mandates for schools are a bold step aimed at reducing the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, but logistical questions remain – how will the vaccine tracking process actually work?  

In this article, we break down current statewide vaccination and testing mandates for K-12 schools and explain how BP Logix’s new Vaccine Tracker app can help school officials implement and ensure compliance of these new mandates. 

COVID-19 vaccine requirements for K-12 schools by state 

Information last updated August 27, 2021. 

• California: All workers at public and private K-12 schools must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. 
• Connecticut: All workers in public and private preschools, K-12 schools, and childcare facilities must receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. 
• Illinois: Teachers and staff at public preschool and K-12 schools as well as personnel and students at public colleges and universities must provide proof of vaccination by Sept. 5 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
• New Jersey: Workers at public and private preschool programs and K-12 schools in New Jersey must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. 
• New Mexico: All workers at public and private schools must be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing effective Aug. 23. 
• Oregon: All teachers, educators, support staff, and volunteers at K-12 schools in Oregon must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. 
• Washington: All employees and contractors at public and private K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and childcare/early learning providers serving children from multiple households must be fully vaccinated or obtain a religious or medical exemption by Oct. 18. There is no test-out option. 

The challenge for schools? Vaccine tracking logistics 

Faced with these new requirements, school administrators are now tasked with finding and implementing a solution for verifying the vaccination status of employees in time to meet their state’s deadlines. 

Manually checking paper CDC record cards is not a feasible option when you’re dealing with thousands of people, which is why finding a way to automate this process is critical. 

Thankfully, K-12 schools seeking a solution can look to their higher education counterparts, who are already one step ahead in their search for a solution. In April, California’s massive UC and Cal State university systems announced plans to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty, and staff upon official FDA approval of the vaccines. At the time, the three COVID-19 vaccines were only available under emergency use authorization, but that didn’t stopped universities from thinking pro-actively about technical solutions for eventually verifying vaccination status. 

Tracking vaccinations with an app 

In response to requests from our higher education customers, the team at BP Logix developed the Vaccine Tracker app to allow school administrators to simplify and automate the vaccination status tracking process for their employees and students. 

With our app, school employees can easily and securely provide proof of their vaccination status, while administrators can manage enforcement and comply with mandates. 

There are several reasons why educational institutions are turning to BP Logix’s Vaccine Tracker app. 

1. Rapid deployment

Faced with looming compliance deadlines, schools subject to statewide mandates must move quickly to establish and roll out a process for verifying COVID-19 vaccination status for their teachers and staff. The Vaccine Verification app can be customized and deployed in as a little as a few weeks. 

2. Mobile-friendly and accessible

The trick to successfully verifying the vaccination records of thousands of people? Make it as easy and accessible as humanly possible. Vaccine Verification is a web-based app that streamlines the verification process for employees with a simple, intuitive form. It can be used on any device – from desktops to tablets and phones. 

3. Simple system integration

One of the best parts about Vaccine Verification is that it easily integrates with your existing campus data sources, whether it’s a student information system (SIS), a human resources information system (HRIS), or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. By linking up the app with your key systems of record, you can effortlessly authenticate users and streamline their user experience. 

4. Compliance verification and exception handling

Vaccine Verification can do more than just verify vaccination information from immunized individuals. It can also handle exceptions for users that indicate they have not been vaccinated. You can pose additional questions or collect additional information required for your school to remain compliant with mandates. 

5. Management reporting dashboards

The administrator view of the app offers a robust, customizable dashboard with a bird’s eye view of your school’s vaccination data, as well as actionable reporting, data drilldowns, and always-on audit tracking. 

6. Customizable, flexible, scalable

The reality of living in a pandemic means that things change very quickly. While the COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for children under 12 years old, that could change in a matter of months. Will schools have a plan ready should the K-12 vaccination mandate be extended include all children? That’s just one example of why it’s critical to choose solutions that can keep up with your changing needs and help you avoid technical debt. 

Built using a powerful low-code platform called Process Director, the Vaccine Verification app is endlessly customizable and easily scaled. In fact, while the app was originally designed for use at educational institutions, the Vaccine Verification app can be customized to suit the specific needs of any number of workplaces. 

Want to take our Vaccine Tracker for a spin?
Sign up for a 14-day demo. 

Automate vaccine tracking and other critical campus processes 

As a process automation partner to many higher education institutions across the country, BP Logix is well-versed in helping schools build solutions that automate their most complex or unique processes. In fact, our vaccine tracking app is just one component of a larger suite of apps geared to educational institutions. 

Ready to transform and scale your school with BP Logix? 

A recent Los Angeles Times post announced that UC and Cal State Systems are among the first state university systems to implement plans to require COVID-19 vaccines for students who want to take classes in person this fall. How will universities keep track of student inoculations? At BP Logix, we have developed an application for university vaccine tracking, in anticipation of what is proving to be a trend in higher ed nationwide.  You can sign up to get a 14 Day demo of our Vaccine Tracker here. 

How many universities will require vaccination?

Rutgers and Cornell were the first to announce the requirement weeks ago. Brown in Rhode Island, Northeastern in Boston, Nova Southeastern University in Florida, and Fort Lewis College in Colorado have announced they plan to require vaccines this fall as well. Add the UC and Cal systems and it's clear that the dominos are falling. 

Though there could be some legal issues with making vaccination a requirement for university attendance, a USA Today post reported that most parents seemed likely to be in favor of required vaccinations if the condition would allow the return of the traditional college experience. That sentiment was shared by students at Boston University, which just released their plan to require vaccination.

Private universities, which normally have more autonomy over student choices, and which, in some cases already required some types of vaccinations before the pandemic, are more likely to be able to adopt the requirement without legal challenges. 

An expert in both university life and law offered the following perspective in the above-cited USA Today article.

Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a professor at the University of California, Hastings College of Law who studies vaccine law, said, "even before the pandemic it was normal to see variation in universities' vaccine requirements. More universities may also make decisions after they see their peers act."

If many universities adopt mandatory vaccinations as predicted, a vaccine tracker will need to be readily available.  

Vaccine tracking will become a priority - is your university ready?

Current conditions make it seem the pressure is on universities to require students to get vaccinated. Although vaccinations will lessen worries about spreading the virus, the new challenge of implementing a vaccine tracker will arise.

How can universities keep track of student vaccinations? How difficult is it to set up vaccine tracking programs or applications? In response to inquiries by our Higher Ed customers, BP Logix is debuting a Vaccine Verification Application that is now available for purchase.  

Our long-term focus on higher education helped us prepare a vaccine tracker solution

Our experience with our higher ed customers gives us great insight into which processes within higher education have the greatest demand for automation. Our library of higher education Apps has been built based on our highest used and requested processes from our customers. This background was instrumental in our development of the university vaccine tracking application for higher education which is available today.

Learn how higher ed is using process automation to transform and scale. Check out BP Logix low-code platform for higher education at the link here.