Seyfarth Synopsis: The Adams administration has announced that the private-sector employee vaccination mandate will become optional as of November 1, 2022. 

On September 20, 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the City will officially end its private-sector employee vaccine mandate effective November 1, 2022. The mandate, enacted in December 2021 by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, required all private sector employers to ensure that their employees in New York City who perform in-person work were vaccinated against COVID-19.  As we previously reported, the Adams administration did not revoke the mandate upon taking office, but stated in June 2022 that it was focused on “prioritizing education instead of enforcement.”  Many reports indicated there was little to no enforcement following Adams’s January 2022 inauguration.

In lieu of the mandate, the City is asking businesses to encourage their employees to get vaccinated and stay up-to-date on boosters.  New York City employers should now consider whether and how to revise their workplace COVID-19 policies to reflect these changes.

Seyfarth will continue to monitor developments in this space and provide updates when available.