UPDATE: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MANDATED VACCINATIONS

Polk Nation – we want to keep you up to date on the latest information regarding COVID -19 vaccination requirements in the workplace.

Last week, the halt that had been imposed for the OSHA vaccine mandate was overturned and employers are now required to comply with the OSHA requirement to have all employees vaccinated or submit each non-vaccinated employee to weekly testing. OSHA has given a little over a month for companies to develop compliant policies and implement testing before issuing citations – so there is no time to waste.

Although this was not the news we wanted, we cannot ignore it. Polk intends to fully comply with these requirements just like we comply will all OSHA requirements.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU?

If you are fully vaccinated:  congratulations – if you have already submitted proof of your vaccination to vax@polkmechanical.com – you do not need to do anything else.  As a fully vaccinated employee you meet all the requirements of the OSHA standard. If you are vaccinated but have not submitted proof of vaccination – do so now.

A person is considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 ≥2 weeks after receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) or ≥2 weeks after receipt of the single dose of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

If you are not fully vaccinated: OSHA has provided several options for employees to meet the requirements:

• You can get vaccinated to avoid the inconvenience and hassle of weekly testing and masks (We highly recommend and encourage this option).
  1. Employees are eligible for up to 4 hours of paid time off to receive a vaccination and return to work (just notify your supervisor of the date and time you are scheduled to be vaccinated)
  2. Remember it takes several weeks between doses to be full vaccinated – so don’t delay.
• You can choose not to be vaccinated:
  1. You will be required to submit to weekly testing (conducted at an authorized site – not an at home test). We will provide more information on the specific requirements soon – stay tuned.
  2. Those test results must be provided to Polk prior to starting work each week (or every 7 days)
  3. You must always wear a mask while in the office or on a jobsite
  4. Regardless of a medical or religious exemption, the OSHA standard requires weekly testing and masks for anyone not vaccinated
  5. We will be sending more detailed communication in the coming weeks to unvaccinated employees to assist you with these options and as always, our HR department is ready to help!!

We need your help Polk Nation!! We recognize this is a challenging and controversial issue. However, let’s not allow this to be a stumbling block, but instead a steppingstone to all the great things we can and will accomplish together in the year ahead – we will get through this together POLK NATION STRONG!!

Fran McCann