OSHA Terminates COVID-19 Healthcare Rulemaking

February 18, 2025
Hall Benefits Law, LLC

Just before the presidential inauguration, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the termination of its COVID-19 healthcare rulemaking.

OSHA originally issued an Emergency Temporary Standard on June 21, 2021. The purpose of the standard was to protect workers in healthcare settings from COVID-19. The agency published the Emergency Temporary Standard as a proposed rule, soliciting comments from stakeholders and other members of the public. OSHA also held public hearings on the issue from June 2021 to May 2022.

OSHA submitted a draft final COVID-19 rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 7, 2022. However, on April 10, 2023, President Biden signed House Joint Resolution 7 into law, which terminated the federal government’s national emergency declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its statement, OSHA reasoned that it chose to terminate the COVID-19 healthcare rulemaking in favor of pursuing generalized Infectious Diseases rulemaking for healthcare. The agency explained that focusing on mitigating workers’ exposure to occupational exposure to all infectious diseases in the healthcare setting was a better use of its resources than solely gearing the rule toward COVID-19.

With today’s announcement, OSHA is now terminating the rulemaking because the most effective and efficient use of agency resources to protect healthcare workers from occupational exposure to COVID-19, as well as a host of other infectious diseases, is to focus its resources on the completion of an Infectious Diseases rulemaking for healthcare.

HBL has experience in all areas of benefits and employment law, offering a comprehensive solution for your business benefits and HR/employment needs. We help ensure you are in compliance with the complex requirements of ERISA and the IRS code, as well as those laws that impact you and your employees. Together, we reduce your exposure to potential legal or financial penalties. Learn more by calling 470-571-1007.

The following two tabs change content below.

Hall Benefits Law, LLC

HBL offers employers comprehensive legal guidance on benefits in mergers and acquisitions, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), executive compensation, health and welfare benefits, healthcare reform, and retirement plans. We counsel a wide spectrum of clients including small, mid-sized, and large companies, 401(k) investment advisors, health insurance brokers, accountants, attorneys, and HR consultants, just to name a few. HBL is passionate about advising clients, and we are dedicated to our mission: to provide comprehensive, personalized, and practical ERISA and benefits legal solutions that exceed client expectations.