Updated - Possible Supply & Service Disruptions Now January 10, 2022.

[woodsghost]

Something I had not thought about, but
last I heard the Executive Branch had received orders to ignore court rulings on the issue. If that information is still current, then I expect a flood of lawsuits over denying/violating Constitutional Rights. Which will clog the court systems and make other efforts more difficult. I will expect lawsuits at the Federal, State, and Employer levels. Particularly if Unemployment benefits are denied or stripped. Stripping unemployment benefits will also leave a number of people without jobs or incomes, producing more stress.

[Raptor]

A link to a site that explains appeal and accommodations for any federal employee fired.

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/employee-relations/employee-rights-appeals/

IMO the termination of an employment for over kind of medical treatment in the private sector would result in an ADA lawsuit with  $$$$ being awarded the ex-employee.
The termination of an employee immediately after they filed an EEOC complaint, religious exemption and/or ADA request for compensation in the private sector even with real documentable performance issues is likewise very problematic. It is called retaliation.

The other issue is the fact that there are ADA lawsuits being filed against employers who are not allowing employees to work at home by employees demanding a reasonable accommodation under ADA.
https://www.foley.com/en/insights/publications/2021/09/eeoc-files-ada-reasonable-accommodation-lawsuit
Note this lawsuit was filed by the federal government against a private employer.


The whole matter sure seems problematic to me. I am glad that I fall under the 100 employee threshold. This appears to be a no win situation for employers and is likely to be a real problem for everyone.


   

[Raptor]

Ok the 6th Circuit of Appeals re-instituted the January 1 deadline but the Department of Labor pushed the date back a bit.

All employers with 100 or more employees need to ensure their employees are vaccinated or tested.

But the new deadline is January 10th, 2022.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/d-j-vu-sixth-circuit-court-appeals-dissolves-stay-osha-covid-19-emergency-temporary

The DOL, according to a news release issued on December 18, wisely recognizes the "uncertainty created by the stay" of the ETS and has therefore elected to exercise "enforcement discretion with respect to the [ETS's] compliance dates".

Its discretion, however, goes only so far. In what – in a less urgent context – might indicate a sense of humor, the DOL says that "[t]o provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard's testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer" – in the judgment of the DOL – "is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard."

OSHA offers the assurance that it "will work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance", but it, and covered employers, should be prepared to work fast.

[SCBrian]

In the fun reshuffling of the deck if you will...
And some local headlines from the last few weeks that tell a story...

"71 employees with the City of North Charleston were denied religious exemptions from the mandate."

"25 North Charleston firefighters, police fired for not getting COVID-19 vaccine, city says<Snip> Another 18 resigned"
So the City of N. Charleston is down ~38 Police/Fire employees...

From another article:

This has actually helped the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's office officials said they've hired five to six employees from the North Charleston Police Department.
They also say they expect to be fully staffed for the first time in a long time by the end of next week.
Other local law enforcement agencies have hired officers from the North Charleston Police Department recently, as well.
Summerville PD confirmed Friday 14 former North Charleston officers have applied for open positions. Summerville department leaders say they've so far hired two of those former NCPD officers, and have several others "still going through the hiring process."
Dorchester County Sheriff's Office said it has accepted several applications in the last couple of weeks, but did not provide any additional information on them. "These (applications) are in process and we cannot comment further about those applicants," said a spokesperson. "I do expect soon to be operating at, or very nearly at, full strength."

Now unfortunately as a result we've (I live in N. Chas) seen /non-street type/ officers (Not sure what the correct wording is) moved into more enforcement roles.  Community outreach, codes, desk jockeys ect...   So a bunch or really novice officers filling in.   I'm hoping the next headline I post isnt "Crime skyrockets in N. Chas"...  But I've a feeling...

[Raptor]

Now unfortunately as a result we've (I live in N. Chas) seen /non-street type/ officers (Not sure what the correct wording is) moved into more enforcement roles.  Community outreach, codes, desk jockeys ect...   So a bunch or really novice officers filling in.   I'm hoping the next headline I post isnt "Crime skyrockets in N. Chas"...  But I've a feeling...

This is exactly why we should be aware of these disruptions.