Workers at companies with 100 or more employees in the United States will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4, 2022, or submit to weekly coronavirus tests to confirm they don’t have the virus.

Those are among the key tenets of President Joe Biden’s vaccination mandate for larger companies, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released on Thursday, Nov. 4. Companies in the promotional products industry with 100 or more employees will have to comply with the mandate unless it’s struck down in a subsequent court battle.

OSHA declared that it’s incumbent on businesses to ensure that workers are vaccinated. However, businesses aren’t required to pay for or provide COVID tests for employees that decide against vaccinating, unless state/local laws or labor union contracts require them to do so. That means the expense could fall on the unvaccinated workers.

Biden says he has issued the mandate in the interest of public health. The president’s administration estimates that the requirement will save thousands of lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations over the six months following its implementation.

OSHA is planning on-site inspections of workplaces to ensure that companies are conforming to the mandate. Penalties for violations can range from $13,653 for a serious offense to $136,532 for a company that willfully flouts the rules.

Under the OSHA regulations, employers must provide employees with paid time off to get vaccinated and to recover from the side effects of the shots.

A person is considered fully vaccinated when they’ve had either one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer regimen. At this point, booster shots are not required.

While unvaccinated workers will not have to begin providing weekly COVID tests until after the January deadline, they must start wearing masks on the job by Dec. 5.

The forthcoming #COVID vaccination mandate stands to impact #promoproducts companies. Developments related to it are worth keeping an eye on. https://t.co/JLLWFeXZ0E @ASI_MBell @asicentral @Tim_Andrews_ASI

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) October 25, 2021

Federal authorities noted that the mandate on vaccinations/weekly testing for the unvaccinated is the minimum standard. Employers can enact stricter rules, such as requiring all employees to be vaccinated by an earlier deadline than Jan. 4, with no weekly testing option.

The vaccination mandate has sparked controversy. Proponents see it as a necessary measure that will keep the population safer. Others decry the mandate as unconstitutional overreach by the federal government, adding that it will further disrupt the labor market, which is experiencing shortages. Legal challenges are likely.

“Republican governors and attorneys general are expected to immediately sue OSHA to block the rules,” USA Today reported Thursday. “Some private employers might as well. The agency will have to prove to the courts that the requirements are necessary to protect workers from a grave danger.”

OSHA approved the regulations around the mandate during an emergency procedure that bypassed the normal approval process, which allows for comment. OSHA now has six months to complete the normal process for the rules to become permanent. 

If you're a federal government contractor, might want to review these updated guidelines on the #COVID #vaccination mandate: https://t.co/TWj6Q8mZhg @asicentral @ASI_MBell @Tim_Andrews_ASI

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) November 1, 2021

The vaccination mandate also applies to state and local government workers in 26 states, including teachers and school staff. That’s because five states – Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey and New York – have OSHA-approved plans specifically for public employees, USA Today reported.

Another 21 states include public employees in their workplace enforcement plans that are required to be at least as tough as OSHA’s. According to USA Today, those states are Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

The Biden administration has issued a separate mandate that requires employees of all federal contractors and subcontractors to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. That requirement was scheduled to take effect on Dec. 8, but officials on Nov. 4 announced the deadline was being moved back to Jan. 4, 2022.