The latest guidance from an interagency task force says agencies will have discretion regarding how to administer those tests, including in-house, at another agency or through a contractor. Testing will apply only to employees who are not fully vaccinated and who are working on-site, will be done during working hours, and will be at the agency’s expense.

“Refusals to take a test may result in disciplinary measures. In addition to pursuing any disciplinary action, an agency may separately elect to bar the employee from the agency workplace for the safety of others,” the new guidance says.

Last month, President Biden announced that federal employees would have to attest to their vaccine status or else face regular tests and requirements to wear masks, among other restrictions. Employees also face discipline that could include firing if they falsely say they’re fully vaccinated on a new form that is now being distributed among the 2.1 million civilian federal workers.

For several hundred thousand federal employees for whom inoculation is mandatory, a refusal to get vaccinated could also result in firing.