数百万的联邦承包商雇员必须在12月8日之前对COVID接种疫苗，according to Sept. 24 guidancefrom the White House Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. It instructs contractors to begin preparations to require most workers to prove they are vaccinated by that date—except for those able to qualify for what the guidance calls “legal accommodations” such as a disability or strongly held religious belief under federal law.

The guidance, sought by President Joe Biden in a Sept. 9 executive order, takes effect on Oct. 15 and must be an added clause in contract solicitations after that date and in contracts awarded on or after Nov. 14. For current contracts awarded before Oct. 15, agencies must include the clause when a contract option is exercised or an extension is made. Between Oct. 15 and Nov. 14, contract solicitations only must must include the clause.

Vaccine mandates rules do not apply to federal contracts or subcontracts valued at less than $250,000, the "simplified acquisition threshold" under U.S. regulation, and to those for manufactured products supplied, according to the guidance, but agencies are "strongly encouraged" to include them. The mandate may apply to contracts valued below the threshold that relate to disaster recovery, defense and other work, the guidance says.

Contractor employees working at non-U.S. locations are exempt from the new rules, although other requirements may apply to them under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules. Coverage does extend to employees who work "in connection with" federal contracts, such as those in human resources, billing and legal review, the guidance says.

The council responsible for the FAR system will develop the new clause for agencies by Oct. 8, “and recommends that [they] exercise their authority to deviate from the FAR using the procedures set forth” to apply the rules to firms working under FAR-based contracts.

“We are watching this closely since it’s a ‘hard’ mandate with known dates that impacts firms of all sizes,” says Steve Hall, senior vice president for advocacy at the American Council of Engineering Cos.

Possible Fallout

Biden’s executive order for federal contractors directed executive departments and agencies, including those with large construction portfolios such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. General Services Administration, to ensure that covered contracts and contract-like instruments include a clause that the contractor and its subcontractors comply with all guidance for covered contractor or subcontractor workplace locations.

The guidance demands vaccination of nearly all federal contractor employees, their subcontractor employees and those of tier subcontractors. According to the Task Force, all prime contractors must require the new contract language mandating vaccination to pass on to subcontractors and tier contractors.

指南更新表示，在户外工作的承包商员工，例如在联邦项目建设工作地点上工作的承包商员工，这些工作人员受到指南的涵盖，必须在12月8日之前接种疫苗。

An outdoor exemption was requested by construction industry trade associations.

The contractor "is responsible for considering, and dispositioning, such requests for accommodations regardless of the covered contractor employee’s place of performance,” the task force said.

承包商必须提供记录员工疫苗接种状况的身体证明。现在的指南并不豁免曾经是COVID-19的承包商雇员，并要求承包商指定一个或多个个人向员工传达政策并确保合规性。承包商无需进行工作场所疫苗接种。

9月24日的指南还根据其疫苗接种状况，位置和工作活动为联邦承包商员工设定了面具和社会距离规则。

它还“强烈鼓励”企业“为不从事承保政府合同但与那些工作的工作地点的员工“合并类似的疫苗接种要求”。但是，这两组可能相交的区域（例如会议室，厨房和用餐区）在合同绩效期间被认为是“覆盖承包商工作场所”，除非公司可以证明没有互动。

Hall notes “uncertainty in how a company can successfully segregate employees” involved in intra-company project collaborations and teaming efforts with other firms, and in whether rules cover employees working on federal-aid projects and programs.

他还说：“如果一家公司的几名员工反对接种疫苗，这会使雇主处于困难的位置，必须决定如何保留团队的关键成员来为重要客户签订合同。”

霍尔说：“遵守联邦法规和行政命令的雇主仍然面临雇员诉讼的风险，”指出根据行政命令和远处规定，需要保护责任。他说：“当地和州的授权也被推出，这使这个问题更加复杂，这加剧了合规挑战。”

'Getting More People Vaccinated'

Jason Miller, deputy White House office of management and budget director, said in an accompanying blog post that the “guidance issued today advances one of the main goals of this science-based plan: getting more people vaccinated.”

美国劳工部分别计划通过美国职业安全和健康管理局发布紧急临时标准，该管理将需要疫苗接种或每周对有100多名工人的公司的员工进行疫苗接种或测试。

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the emergency standard would be released in October, but there is a clause in the Task Force guidance that says that even if the standard conflicts with the new guidance, federal contractors “must comply with the requirements set forth in this Guidance regardless of whether they are subject to other workplace safety standards.”

建筑行业贸易集团（如美国相关总承包商以及相关的建筑商和承包商）敦促政府对联邦承包商采取不太广泛的方法，并要求户外工作不接受疫苗的要求。

In a Sept. 16 letter to the FAR Council and the Task Force, AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr asked officials to consider exempting outdoor federal construction, claiming most work can be performed with a lower risk of spreading COVID-19.

In a separate letter dated Sept. 18 to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor James Frederick, Sandherr warned that broadly applying an OSHA emergency standard to all construction activities, as proposed by Biden’s executive order, could impede the goal of increasing vaccination rates.

He says many contractor employees will respond to mandated vaccinations by quitting firms doing federal work or seeking jobs with those that have fewer than 100 employees.

Contractors React

Chris Carson, president and COO of Carson-Mitchell Inc., in Springfield, Mo., estimated that about half of its field employees have been vaccinated, roughly in line with the state 47.1% vaccination rate as of Sept. 21 and with the industry-wide rate for construction, according to a study by Carnegie-Mellon University.

The company has taken precautions such as enforcing social distancing, but Carson said he was unsure how many workers would agree to get vaccinated.

He added, however, that even if the government guidance did not include a vaccine mandate for federal contractors, company customers such as hospitals may require workers on-site to be vaccinated against COVID-19, as they do with other common inoculations, Carson noted.

“I’m trying to get on the same page, but I haven’t seen a unified voice come out yet from the industry,” he said. “It’s a tough place to be in.”

Carson said he expects to lose some employees to any vaccine mandate. Many of them have other options beyond the industry, such as farm work or property maintenance in the southern Missouri and northern Arkansas area that his employees live in.

“我们是一个中型的承包商在一个巨大的电子商务onomy,” Carson said. “So we’re in a wait-and-see approach, because we really don’t have any other choice.”

Russ Burns, president and CEO of Chicago-based design-build contractor Clayco Inc., said that “in line with the President’s announcement,” his company will soon announce an extension to its full workforce of an existing vaccination requirement for office workers.

“We are not sure on a timeline yet, but I am sure we will have a grace period to ensure the proper steps are taken to make this a success,” Burns says. “Clayco plans to follow the President’s directives and will create and implement a strategy that will be simple and as flexible as possible to keep everyone safe.”

The FAR Council will need to amend its current rules to fit such a broad vaccination mandate, with a rulemaking underway to include the new guidance for covered contractors and subs performing under FAR-based contracts.

AGC副总裁Brian Turmail说：“如果远处的理事会要采用这项指导，那将很难遵守。”“还不清楚执行此指南是合法的。我们期待与理事会合作，因为他们会制定指导，这些指导将解决工人的安全，而不会施加不当和可能是非法的负担。”

Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, said the group "will be reviewing the guidance carefully with industry stakeholders to understand its full impact and unintended consequences. However, based on our initial reading, this guidance will result in additional compliance burdens, exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled workforce shortage and increase costs for federal contractors and taxpayers."

ABC plans to participate in the FAR Council rulemaking process "and will be fully engaged in the forthcoming OSHA [emergency standard] rule applying to all employers with 100 or more employees," he said.