6 Key Questions for Contractors on the Vaccine Mandate
Federal contractors continue to be confused by undefined terms in the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for their employees nearly two months after the mandate was issued, despite the government's efforts to issue further guidance and respond to queries.
[…]
Further action is expected from the FAR Council later this month, which may offer more concrete guidance, but there is no guarantee it will address all the lingering questions.
"I hope the rulemakers consider the impact to industry, or whether there are potential alternatives for complying with it," Blank Rome LLP government contracts practice group chair Justin Chiarodo said. "[Will they] provide an appropriate balance between the public health considerations and then operational and mission needs?"
[…]
Similarly, the GSA said in an Oct. 29 FAQ that it would "work with contractors to ensure they have the time and opportunity to achieve full compliance" if they are making progress on complying with the mandate but don't believe their full workforce will be vaccinated by the deadline.
But it has become apparent that whatever flexibility is allowed, a "not insubstantial portion of the contractor workforce is not going to get a vaccine, and of course [there are] collateral impacts on the ability to perform contracts, meet mission requirements, and so forth," said Blank Rome's Chiarodo.
…
"How is the government going to try and accommodate impact? I think that's going to vary from program to program, agency to agency, and contractor to contractor," Chiarodo said.
To read the full article, please click here.
“6 Key Questions for Contractors on the Vaccine Mandate,” by Daniel Wilson was published in Law360 on November 3, 2021.