In response to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) emergency temporary standard (ETS) that seeks to require covered employers across the country to either mandate that employees get vaccinated or test for COVID-19 on a weekly basis, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently signed sweeping new COVID-19 legislation into law to counteract the federal mandate-or-test rule.
The new law took immediate effect when he signed it on Nov. 12, restricting employers’ and businesses’ ability to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination and take adverse actions against employees for refusing to show proof COVID-19 vaccination. It also prohibits public employers and public schools from mandating vaccination or requiring masks on premises unless certain conditions are met.
