President Joe Biden's executive order requiring vaccines for employers who employ over 100 people, and the anticipated rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding this issue, will likely meet the same resistance in the courts as private vaccine mandates have. Further, employers with less than 100 employees are increasingly requiring vaccines. States, municipalities and health care organizations all over the country have instituted vaccine mandates. Legal challenges are inevitable, and, in many instances, underway. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides some guidance on instituting these mandates, and courts are starting to weigh in with decisions supporting vaccine mandates.

EEOC's guidance regarding vaccines plainly states that "federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19," emphasizing that employer must provide reasonable accommodations under the Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA). The EEOC provides guidance on maintaining information regarding vaccine status and requests for reasonable accommodation should be kept confidential and not included in the employee's personnel file.