Airport Alert: Unvaccinated Federal Employees Will Be Required to Test Regularly for COVID-19
January 11, 2022
The White House Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued updated guidance that requires agencies to test unvaccinated employees who interact with the public or report to federal facilities. The COVID-19 testing program will apply to federal employees who either have a pending or approved request for medical or religious exemptions from the Administration's federal employee vaccine requirement. The guidance stated that, generally speaking, agencies need not apply the same testing requirement to federal contractors who are on-site but noted that there could be some exceptions“both to who gets tested and how often“based on agency requirements.
Agencies must implement the testing program by February 15, 2022. According to the guidance, testing may occur either at a federal facility or elsewhere, subject to the discretion of federal agencies. However, employees may not administer or read the results of COVID tests themselves, unless they are supervised by the agency or 'an authorized telehealth provider.'
Agencies may use any Food and Drug Administration-approved COVID-19 tests, including both rapid antigen and PCR tests, and may elect to authorize off-site testing locations such as in-store or drive-through testing, self-swab tests that participants can drop off for collection or ship to a laboratory, or over-the-counter test kits, provided that employees do not self-report the results without agency supervision. Agencies are required to pay for the cost of testing employees, either by paying directly for testing or by reimbursing employees, and the time spent getting tested should be treated as duty time“not administrative leave“for payroll purposes.
AAAE has not yet seen any agency specific guidance from TSA, CBP or FAA regarding the testing requirements for their employees. As of January, TSA reported that 96 percent of its workforce was compliant with the vaccination requirement, with approximately 8 percent of those compliant individuals seeking a medical or religious exemption. Late last year, CBP reported that 98 percent of its employees were either fully inoculated or seeking exemptions. In December, FAA reported that over 99 percent of its employees were vaccinated or seeking exemptions.
As always, we will keep you updated as we learn more from the agencies about their specific plans to implement the testing requirements and any potential impact on airports or airport operations.
The White House Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued updated guidance that requires agencies to test unvaccinated employees who interact with the public or report to federal facilities. The COVID-19 testing program will apply to federal employees who either have a pending or approved request for medical or religious exemptions from the Administration's federal employee vaccine requirement. The guidance stated that, generally speaking, agencies need not apply the same testing requirement to federal contractors who are on-site but noted that there could be some exceptions“both to who gets tested and how often“based on agency requirements.
Agencies must implement the testing program by February 15, 2022. According to the guidance, testing may occur either at a federal facility or elsewhere, subject to the discretion of federal agencies. However, employees may not administer or read the results of COVID tests themselves, unless they are supervised by the agency or 'an authorized telehealth provider.'
Agencies may use any Food and Drug Administration-approved COVID-19 tests, including both rapid antigen and PCR tests, and may elect to authorize off-site testing locations such as in-store or drive-through testing, self-swab tests that participants can drop off for collection or ship to a laboratory, or over-the-counter test kits, provided that employees do not self-report the results without agency supervision. Agencies are required to pay for the cost of testing employees, either by paying directly for testing or by reimbursing employees, and the time spent getting tested should be treated as duty time“not administrative leave“for payroll purposes.
AAAE has not yet seen any agency specific guidance from TSA, CBP or FAA regarding the testing requirements for their employees. As of January, TSA reported that 96 percent of its workforce was compliant with the vaccination requirement, with approximately 8 percent of those compliant individuals seeking a medical or religious exemption. Late last year, CBP reported that 98 percent of its employees were either fully inoculated or seeking exemptions. In December, FAA reported that over 99 percent of its employees were vaccinated or seeking exemptions.
As always, we will keep you updated as we learn more from the agencies about their specific plans to implement the testing requirements and any potential impact on airports or airport operations.
