6.B. In addition, the OSH Act requires that State Plans must cover State and local government employees (including, e.g., State and local school systems within the scope of the ETS), even though federal OSHA does not have coverage over such employees in States without OSHA-approved State Plans. "As a best practice, an employer should provide employees and applicants with information about whom to contact, and the procedures (if any) to use, to request a religious accommodation," the EEOC says. However, the EEOC highlights the fact that beliefs can change over time, as can the degree of adherence to a belief, and therefore the employer "should not assume that an employee is insincere simply because some of the employee's practices deviate from the commonly followed tenets of the employee's religion, or because the employee adheres to some common practices but not others.". Do unvaccinated employees who work remotely need to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing? When OSHA determines that a State Plan is no longer fulfilling its statutory responsibilities under the OSH Act by failing to meet Federal requirements under Section 18 for continued approval, Federal OSHA may commence proceedings to ensure adequate protections for covered workers within the state. will issue an emergency temporary standard, may grant religious accommodation to some employees, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. However, to be in compliance, the employer must ensure they are able to maintain a record of each employees vaccination status. #views-exposed-form-manual-cloud-search-manual-cloud-search-results .form-actions{display:block;flex:1;} #tfa-entry-form .form-actions {justify-content:flex-start;} #node-agency-pages-layout-builder-form .form-actions {display:block;} #tfa-entry-form input {height:55px;} Although many OTC COVID-19 tests are sold with two tests, the ETS only requires employers to ensure that employees who are not fully vaccinated are tested for COVID-19 once every seven days (or within seven days of returning to a workplace). A VIP StarNETWORK medical staff member prepares a Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at a #VAXTOSCHOOL pop-up site at Life of Hope Center on October 21, 2021 in New York City. preferences, or on nonreligious concerns about the possible effects What effect does rescinding the 2020 religious exemption rule have? (Added FAQ), 6.S. Yes. [CDATA[/* >