COVID-19 Vaccination Emergency Standard

In September, President Biden issued a directive to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring all employers with 100+ employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19.  Today, OSHA released the highly anticipated ETS. This ETS does apply to the Postal Service.  

In 1998, when the Postal Employees Safety Enhancement Act was passed, the Postal Service became subject to Public Law Number 91-596; which in turn made the Postal Service and its employees subject to all Safety Standards—whether temporary or permanent—implemented and enforced by OSHA.  

At this time the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, (APWU) is reviewing the ETS to determine how to proceed as the ETS is applied by the Postal Service. After our review and determination of the next steps to take, more information will be released. 

The APWU encourages all postal employees to practice the things that have been shown to slow the spread of COVID-19. These include social distancing, wearing face coverings, frequent hand washing, and staying home from work when sick. The APWU also encourages all postal employees who are able to get vaccinated do so with one of the vaccines currently authorized for use today.