Federal Government Mandates That Federal Contractor Employees Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (“Task Force”), led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, issued guidance on Friday, September 24, 2021 (“Guidance”), mandating that employees of covered federal contractors be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8, 2021 (subject to medical and religious exemptions), and requiring federal contractors to implement masking and physical distancing requirements.  The Guidance was required under Executive Order 14042 (“EO”), which was signed by President Biden on September 9 and directed the Task Force to issue COVID-19 safety protocols for federal contractors.

Which Federal Contractors Must Comply With the Mandate? 

The vaccination mandate does not apply to current contracts, but will apply only to covered federal contractors and subcontractors who:

• Enter into a federal contract or contract-like instrument on or after November 14, 2021, which contains a clause requiring compliance with the mandate; or

• Have an existing contract for which an option to extend is exercised on or after October 15, 2021, which modifies the contract to include the clause requiring compliance with the mandate.
   

The vaccine mandate covers contracts and contract-like instruments for:

• Services, construction or a leasehold interest in real property;
• Services covered by the Service Contract Labor Standards;
• Concessions; and
• Those in connection with federal property or lands and related to offering services for federal employees, their dependents or the general public.
  
  

The vaccine mandate does not cover:

• Grants;
• Contracts or contract-like instruments with Indian Tribes;
• Subcontracts solely for the provision of products;
• Contracts and subcontracts equal to or below the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000); and
• Employees who perform work outside of the U.S. or its outlying areas, as those terms are defined in section 2.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

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