We recently surveyed Hawaii Employers Council's member companies to determine how they have responded to the withdrawal of government mandates such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS). Notably, we were interested to know what member companies are doing on a mandatory vaccination and/or testing policy for their workforce. The survey was conducted during the week of February 7, 2022, and a total of 93 member companies participated in this Pulse Survey.
The OSHA ETS was considered to be one of the most impacting government mandates. While 67 of the respondents indicated that the OSHA ETS was not relevant to them, 1 respondent canceled their planned mandatory vaccination or test policy to comply with the OSHA ETS and 13 respondents have opted to defer such a policy at this time.
Survey highlights:
- More than half of the respondents (53) either implemented or worked on a mandatory vaccination plan for employees or a vaccination or testing option for employees.
- Most companies (39) are not considering updating the definition of "fully vaccination" as including the booster shot whereas a quarter of the respondents (24) have indicated that this is something they are considering.
- The majority of respondents (67) have indicated that employees can use an existing sick leave or another leave program (e.g. FMLA or PTO) whereas 14 respondents said they offer additional paid leave which does not impact personal PTO or sick leave