States vs OSHA Vaccine Mandates

Now that OSHA is mandating vaccines, what happens to state laws that prohibit employers from requiring them?  I’m Amy E. Feldman.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new workplace vaccine regulations require employers with 100 or more employees to mandate employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or show proof of a weekly negative COVID test and wear a mask.  But some state laws forbid companies from mandating either vaccines or masks.  So, what’s a company to do?  Which law prevails?  

OSHA has specifically said that its rules on vaccines and masks invalidate any state law that bans such rules because OSHA has authority over occupational safety and health and state laws must abide by the mandates it puts out.  That said, you can bet that states with contrary laws will file suit and let the courts decide.