The Dec. 8, 2021, deadline for compliance with the Biden Administration’s executive order requiring federal contractors to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate is not an absolute deadline.
Instead, new guidance from Biden’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force indicates the date is more of an aspirational deadline as long as contractors are making good faith efforts at compliance.
Absent good faith efforts, agencies are directed to consider contractual remedies, according to law firm Proskauer Rose.
This means contractors are expected to comply with the requirements in their contracts, and if they’re working in good faith to do so, but encounter challenges, then federal agencies are to work with them to address those challenges.
If a contractor isn’t taking steps toward compliance, then the agency should take action and terminate the contract.
