December 10, 2021 update:
ABB encourages all employees and contractors working at ABB facilities to get vaccinated, however the vaccine mandate under Presidential Order 14042 is currently being challenged in court. The mandate is suspended until the legal challenges are adjudicated. Accordingly, as of now, ABB employees and contractors are NOT required to be vaccinated. The following FAQs were developed in advance of this court challenge. The FAQs will be updated once the vaccine mandate case is resolved.
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Over the past two weeks, two separate federal courts issued rulings related to President Biden’s contractor vaccination mandate. The rulings do not invalidate the Executive Order but raise questions regarding the original legal basis on which the mandate was created. As we stated in our original message to employees, ABB implemented the vaccination mandate to ensure compliance with U.S. government regulations. This mandate is now under review, and therefore we will temporarily stop implementation of the vaccination mandate process until the courts resolve these legal issues. Please keep in mind, we may also need to restart the process quickly to comply with regulations based on the final court rulings. All other COVID safety precautions within our facilities will remain in effect.
ABB remains supportive of COVID-19 vaccinations for employees. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting people from COVID-19 and help keep adults and children from getting seriously sick. The CDC also says that COVID-19 vaccines can reduce the risk of people spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. As we stated before, our #1 focus is to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers, and communities. We have already lost the lives of too many ABB colleagues to this virus, and we do not want to lose any more.
The ABB team will continue tracking the Executive Order as courts review these legal questions. Once the courts confirm or deny the order, we will message all of you on our path forward. We want to thank all of you for your supportive messages as we, thus far, navigated this process.
Sincerely,
Michael Gray
U.S. Country Holding Officer | Jason Green
Head of Human Resources, U.S. |