Myth Buster: There is Not a General Testing Alternative for Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate

Verrill Dana – On September 24, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued draft Guidance for Federal Contractors entitled COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors. On September 30, 2021, the GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy issued CAAC 2021-03 Memorandum for Civilian Agencies with the subject: Class Deviation from the Federal Acquisition Regulation Regarding Implementation of Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.These two documents provide the main sources of information concerning federal contractor obligations as they relate to the vaccine mandate. One myth we are hearing repeated by several friends and clients is that the mandate is not truly a mandate, because employees can opt for weekly testing rather than obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine.