North Texas businesses scramble to interpret Biden’s sweeping new COVID mandates

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Major employers in Dallas-Fort Worth spent Thursday afternoon interpreting how a comprehensive new vaccine mandate announced by the Biden administration will change their pandemic protocols.

As part of the Biden administration’s plan, the Occupational Safety and Health Agency is developing a rule that obliges companies with more than 100 employees to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test once a week. It also requires employers to grant paid time off for workers to get vaccinated.

The mandate will cover over 80 million private sector workers, or around two-thirds of the US workforce, according to the White House. The OSHA requirement will go into effect in the “coming weeks,” and employers who violate the new mandate will face fines of up to $ 14,000 per violation.

“We have been patient,” said President Joe Biden on Thursday. “But our patience is failing, and your refusal has cost us all.”

Biden’s aggressive action comes from the fact that just over 53% of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many companies are reluctant to require vaccinations and some choose to give bonuses to workers who get vaccinated.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who issued executive ordinances banning vaccination and masking mandates, said he viewed the Biden plan as a “power grab” by the federal government, said spokeswoman Renae Eze.

“The federal government must stop trying to run private businesses,” said Eze. “Texans and Americans alike have learned and mastered safe practices to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from COVID and don’t need the government to tell them how to do it. Because of this, Governor Abbott has issued an executive order protecting Texans’ right to choose whether to receive the COVID vaccine.

The Texas Association of Business, an Austin-based advocacy group for corporate public policy, has also spoken out against the new requirements.

“[TAB] believes the COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and get the Texas economy back on its feet, “said Glenn Hamer, CEO of TAB. “However, today’s announcement to promote the vaccine for private companies sets a terrifying precedent that could be used to justify any kind of regulation for companies, and TAB opposes that mandate. Additionally, the president’s decision was made without consulting business, which will almost certainly lead to further politicization of COVID-19. While certain special interests have a direct connection with the White House, our nation’s employers have been excluded. “

Prior to Biden’s announcement, occupational safety decisions during the pandemic were left to individual companies, forcing executives to become medical experts overnight.

Southwest Airlines, which has 54,000 employees, said it was “ready to move towards compliance with the mandate.” Until then, the Dallas-based airline said it would continue to “strongly encourage” employees to get vaccinated and share their vaccination status with the company.

Rival United Airlines is demanding that employees be vaccinated by September 27, while Delta announced a $ 200 monthly surcharge for unvaccinated employees. American Airlines, like Southwest, encourages workers to record, but does not mandate them.

Beth Garvey, CEO of Plano-based recruitment agency BGSF with 400 national employees, said she was glad that some of the pressure to make decisions has been removed.

“I commend the president for his actions today, knowing that I am not alone in deciding whether we should make compulsory vaccinations mandatory,” she said. “His move takes the strain off many executives and allows us to focus on building our business to support a growing economy.”

Earlier, Garvey said her company had mandated masks in the office and launched a vaccination campaign that included vaccinated employees in a draw for a $ 500 gift certificate. Vaccinated employees were also allowed to take an additional day off.

Some big companies, including Goldman Sachs, Google, and Walmart, have already implemented vaccine mandates. In Dallas-Fort Worth, major hospital systems have spearheaded pressures for compulsory vaccinations.

Dallas-based AT&T recently implemented mandates that require all of its managers to be vaccinated and conducts regular employee testing, but has stopped requiring vaccinations for all workers, including those represented by unions.

Jeff McElfresh, CEO of AT&T Communications, said he wasn’t surprised by the Biden government’s decision to increase COVID-19 requirements for private companies.

“We pretty much understand that a vaccinated workforce is a safer workforce,” said McElfresh. “And that’s why we leaned on it. And I only suspect that you will see that as business leaders and community organizations tend to move in that direction. “

Other companies in North Texas were still deciphering what the new order means for their COVID-19 logs.

Fidelity, which hopes to have 8,000 full-time employees on its Westlake campus by the end of the year, said it is “evaluating what this could mean for our company and our employees.” Up until that point, the Boston-based financial firm had encouraged its employees to have vaccinations, but not required them.

Biden’s order also includes a requirement that federal employees and millions of contractors working with the federal government be fully vaccinated within approximately 75 days. Home care workers and most hospital workers are also required to be vaccinated under the regulation.

Maryland-based defense company Lockheed Martin, one of the largest employers in the D-FW area that works with the federal government with more than 20,000 workers, said it would follow federal mandates. Her Aviation division in Fort Worth builds F-35 fighter jets and her Missile and Fire Control division in Grand Prairie makes guided missiles for the military.

“As throughout the pandemic, we continue to follow federal, state and local mandates as well as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” Lockheed spokesman Trent Perrotto said in a statement. “We also use other best practices to mitigate risk and protect the health and well-being of our employees and partners while ensuring that we meet our national security obligations.”

The Business Roundtable, a coalition representing the CEOs of America’s largest corporations, welcomed Biden’s move on vaccines and testing.

“America’s business leaders understand the importance of vaccinations and testing in fighting the pandemic, which is why so many resources have invested in encouraging and motivating their customers and employees to get vaccinated, including paid time off,” the statement said of the round table. “In the past few weeks, many companies have decided to implement a vaccination mandate for some or all of their employees, a decision we welcome.”

Delta Air Lines recently became the first major U.S. company to impose a fine on unvaccinated workers to cover COVID-related healthcare costs. The Atlanta-based airline announced Thursday that a fifth of its unvaccinated employees had received a vaccination in the two weeks since it announced a $ 200 monthly surcharge.

The airline has also seen no increase in employee turnover, said Chief Health Officer Henry Ting. New data from the Society for Human Resource Management found that employees may threaten to quit because of a mandate, but so far they haven’t actually done so.

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