September 24, 2021

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force —which is led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the General Services Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management—has released new additional COVID-19 workplace safety guidance for federal contractors and subcontractors.

Per this new guidance, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to conform to the following workplace safety protocols: (1) COVID-19 vaccination of covered contractor employees by December 8, 2021, except in limited circumstances such as a disability or because of sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance; (2) Compliance by individuals, including covered contractor employees and visitors, with the guidance related to masking and physical distancing while in covered contractor workplaces; and (3) Designation by covered contractors of a person or persons to coordinate COVID-19 workplace safety efforts at covered contractor workplaces.

The guidance notes that these workplace safety protocols will apply to all covered contractor employees, including contractor or subcontractor employees in covered contractor workplaces who are not working on a federal government contract or contract-like instrument. The guidance defines “covered contractor workplace” as a “location controlled by a covered contractor at which any employee of a covered contractor working on or in connection with a covered contract is likely to be present during the period of performance for a covered contract. A covered contractor workplace does not include a covered contractor employee’s residence.”

Also of note, the guidance states that a recent antibody test is not an acceptable proof of vaccination and explicitly states that individuals who have had COVID-19 must still be vaccinated.

The new guidance described above is available on the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force website here.

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