A ruling against the Biden administration's COVID-19 mask requirement for public transportation may have little impact on most employers, as many of them already have adopted or abandoned their masking policies. Nonetheless, employers may face questions about masking during business travel, such as whether employees are still required to mask while on work-related flights. We've gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other outlets.
National Mask Directive Struck Down
A federal judge in Florida voided the national mask requirement covering planes and other public transportation as exceeding the authority of U.S. health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed to justify its decision requiring masks and did not follow proper rulemaking, according to the judge.
DOJ Has Appealed Ruling
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced April 20 that it has appealed the ruling. The CDC had requested that the DOJ proceed with an appeal. The CDC stood behind the mask requirement on public transit when it called—prior to the ruling—for public transit users to wear masks until May 3 due to an uptick in cases from the BA.2 variant, a transmissible strain of the omicron variant.
Survey Data on Company Mask Requirements
Many companies already had dropped mask requirements for most of their workers or are planning to this year, according to data from risk management and insurance brokerage WTW, formerly Willis Towers Watson. The companies are choosing instead to focus on getting employees vaccinated and back in the office.
Masking While on Business Travel
While the Transportation Security Administration will no longer require employees to wear masks on airplanes and public transit, employers still may require workers to mask up while on business travel. There could be circumstances where such a requirement could be justified—if an employer is in health care or is requiring workers to travel to and from communities considered areas of high transmission.
Spike in Flight Cancellations Abroad
After the U.K. dropped its mask requirement on planes, more pilots and flight attendants called in sick from COVID-19, resulting in a spate of flight cancellations.
"There is risk we may see some of that in North America, and it's all dependent on case rates," said Rob Morris, head of Ascend by Cirium, an airline analytics and consulting agency in London. "But it will be relatively short term because airlines will adjust their capacity to manage demand and protect their network integrity."
(CBS News)
More States Relax Pandemic-Related Masking Rules
Many states are easing their mask requirements after COVID-19 cases declined from the winter spike caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
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