LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Los Angeles County’s board of directors unanimously on Tuesday approved a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for county’s contractors who work in person with the public or with county’s employees.
Supervisor Janice Hahn recommended expanding an existing mandate for employees in the district to include external contractors.
What you need to know
- The LA County Board of Supervisors approved a COVID vaccine mandate for county contractors who work in person with the public or with county employees
- Both employees and contractors can apply for a medical or religious exemption and would instead have to undergo weekly tests
- The ordinance is effective immediately, but contractors have until January 1st to adhere to it
- On December 7, more than 81% of the county’s employees were fully vaccinated and another 1% were partially vaccinated
“Given the importance of vaccinations in our fight against COVID-19 and the extensive network of contractors the county employs, the board should issue an emergency ordinance that allows contractors to work, interact with and publicly alongside the county’s workers In the district work to be vaccinated possession, “read the application in part.
The ordinance is effective immediately, but contractors have until January 1st to adhere to it.
Both employees and contractors can request a medical or religious exemption and would instead have to undergo weekly tests for COVID-19.
More than 101,000 county workers were mandated by executive order dated August 4, and those workers were required to produce proof of vaccination by October 1.
As of December 7, more than 81% of the county’s employees were fully vaccinated and an additional 1% were partially vaccinated, a representative from the CEO’s office told news sources.
The county is focusing on education and outreach to improve compliance, but has started taking steps to enforce the policy. Some employees have already started receiving layoffs, which, according to Hahn’s communications director Liz Odendahl, could be terminated by the end of the year.
Those who register in the circle system but don’t adhere to vaccination will have to undergo a due process called the Skelly hearing and could end in February, Odendahl said.
Almost 94% of the district’s employees had registered with the district system by December 7th.
Five employees filed a lawsuit in August claiming the mandate was unconstitutional and exceeded the county’s powers under the Emergency Services Act.
Basically, the district does not comment on pending legal disputes, but shortly after this lawsuit was filed, a district representative made the following statement: 80% of our employees have already registered their vaccination status. “
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said last month he would not enforce the mandate in his department and warned that doing so would lead to a “mass brain drain” of MPs. The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs then filed a lawsuit asking a judge to rule that the board did not have the legal authority to suspend or dismiss alternates for non-compliance.
An offer from firefighters working for the city of Los Angeles to delay enforcement of a similar city mandate was turned down last week by Los Angeles Supreme Court Justice Mary Strobel.
However, that lawsuit revolved around a variety of issues, with the Fire Brigade Union requesting a delay to allow collective bargaining on the issue and accusing the city of negotiating in bad faith.
Strobel ruled that United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 did not meet the irreparable harm standard that would be required for an injunction against the city to be issued.
Los Angeles city workers have until December 18 to comply or apply for an exemption.
Comments are closed.