“ As a result , OSHA will not enforce 29 CFR 1904 ’ s recording requirements to require any employers to record worker side effects from COVID-19 vaccination through May 2022 . We will reevaluate the agency ’ s position at that time to determine the best course of action moving forward ,” the agency said .
Nick Hulse , an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Charlotte , N . C ., told the Society for Human Resource Management that the updated guidance “ is a welcome reprieve ” from OSHA ’ s recording requirements .
“ Whether it is through a mandatory vaccination program , or simply encouraging employees to receive the vaccine , employers no longer need to worry themselves with recording reactions ,” he said .
The change also means that construction employers won ’ t have to worry about potential negative impacts from an increase in recorded illnesses and injuries . These could have included issues such as higher workers ’ compensation costs , fewer bidding opportunities and the number of future OSHA inspections when the employer is asked to produce their illness and injury logs , attorney Phillip Russell with Ogletree , Deakins , Nash , Smoak & Stewart , told Construction Dive .
Jobless Claims Dip
As Florida prepares to scale back unemployment benefits , the state had its first week of new jobless claims below 10,000 since March 2020 , according to the U . S . Department of Labor . The federal agency issued a report Thursday that estimated Florida had 8,864 new claims during the week that ended May 22 , down from a revised count of 14,561 during the previous week . The department had initially estimated 17,849 claims during the week that ended May 15 . Since the start of February , Florida had been averaging just under 20,000 new claims a week and had not been below 10,000 claims in a single week since 6,463 claims were filed during the week that ended March 14 , 2020 . The count surged to 74,313 claims the next week as businesses cut back operations due to the coronavirus pandemic and peaked at 506,670 claims during the week that ended April 18 , 2020 . The state ’ s drop came as new claims nationally fell to 406,000 last week from 444,000 during the week that ended May 15 . To try to help spur people back into the workforce , Florida is preparing to reinstate on Tuesday a “ work search ” rule that requires unemployment claimants to apply for five jobs a week . The rule was suspended last year because of the pandemic . Florida has also announced that starting June 26 it will no longer provide $ 300 a week in federal unemployment assistance on top of the maximum $ 275 a week provided by the state . Florida ’ s unemployment rate in April was 4.8 percent , reflecting an estimated 487,000 Floridians out of work from a workforce of 10.24 million .
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