Consumer Brands Association Seeks 'Immediate Clarification' From Biden On Vaccine Mandate

The Consumer Brands Association, a trade association representing the nation’s leading packaged goods companies, has called on the Biden administration for “immediate clarification” of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate announced last week by the president.

What Happened: President Biden announced an executive order that required all private-sector employers with more than 100 employees to either require full vaccinations from their workforce or to begin weekly COVID-19 testing for employees who are not vaccinated.

However, the announcement was made before the mandate was developed.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is planning to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard to implement this requirement, although no date has been set for its issuance.

In a letter to the administration, CBA President and CEO Geoff Freeman noted that while his organization’s membership base “supports efforts to vaccinate as many Americans as possible,” it has been confused and disappointed with Washington’s response to the health crisis.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has often failed to implement well-intentioned policy,” Freeman stated “President Biden’s announcement prompts critical questions that require immediate clarification. As with other mandates, the devil is in the details. Without additional clarification for the business community, employee anxieties and questions will multiply.”

Freeman pointed to a survey that found nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumer packaged goods companies had problems with what they considered to be conflicting pandemic guidance from federal, state and local governments.

“Across the federal government, we will need to see a degree of coordination, rapid response and private sector engagement to be successful,” he continued. “We look forward to working with the administration to increase vaccination rates of essential workers throughout the country.”

Related Link: Most Americans Blame Biden For Mismanaging Afghanistan Crisis: Poll

What Else Happened: The CBA included a long list of questions for the administration that included:

• What is considered documentation for proof of vaccination and how will booster vaccinations be factored into compliance?
• Must an employee be “fully vaccinated” in order to work?
• How will the requirements address natural immunity? Will individuals that have contracted COVID-19 be required to be vaccinated or submit to testing requirements?
• Does the government have plans to centralize vaccination tracking or is it the responsibility of businesses to manage?
• Is there a single testing standard that must be met that would be considered compliant to the negative test result requirement?
• What is considered suitable documentation of a negative test result?
• If an employee takes a COVID-19 test but the results are not yet available, is the employee allowed to continue to work pending the results?
• How does this mandate impact locations with collective bargaining and existing collective bargaining agreements?
• Will this federal requirement preempt existing state-imposed obligations?
• Do the new federal requirements include exemptions based on sincerely held religious beliefs and disabilities?
• Will waivers be allowed if essential employee absences or attrition cause significant disruption to the CPG supply chain?

The CBA membership includes Campbell Soup Company NYSE: CPB), Coca-Cola Co KO, Colgate-Palmolive Company CL, Henkel AG & Co HENKY, Molson Coors Beverage Co TAP and Procter & Gamble Co PG.

Three major retailers — Albertsons Companies Inc ACI, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Target Corporation TGT — are also CBA members.

Photo: Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay.