Should You Encourage or Mandate the COVID-19 Vaccine?
Many employers are wondering if they should encourage or require employees to be vaccinated as more Covid vaccines become available. This is a very tenuous situation and on December 16, 2020, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) weighed in with new guidance that answers some workplace vaccination questions.
If you decide to mandate the Covid vaccine, you should create a policy, but it must comply with several laws such as Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964. An important element that should be addressed in your policy is how you will handle an employee who refuses to get a vaccine if this is mandated. For example, someone could have a disability that would prevent them from getting the vaccine. If an employee who cannot be vaccinated poses a direct threat to the workplace, the employer must consider whether a reasonable accommodation can be made, such as allowing the employee to work remotely or take a leave of absence.
"Employers considering mandating vaccines should give very serious consideration to this issue," said Brett Coburn, an attorney with Alston & Bird in Atlanta. "Rather than implementing mandates that could lead to such difficult decisions, employers may wish to focus on steps they can take to encourage and incentivize employees to get vaccinated," he said. For example, employers may want to:
Develop vaccination education campaigns.
Make obtaining the vaccine as easy as possible for employees.
Cover any costs that might be associated with getting the vaccine.
Provide incentives to employees who get vaccinated.
Provide paid time off for employees to get the vaccine and recover from any potential side effects.
In a recent Gartner, Inc. survey (Gartner Survey Finds 90% Of HR Leaders Will Allow Employees) taken on December 9, 2020, 130 HR professionals responded that when a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, 60% of 116 HR leaders surveyed said they will encourage employees to get vaccinated, but it will not be required. Sixty percent of respondents reported they will provide resources to employees on where and how to get vaccinated and 44% said they plan to cover or subsidize the costs of the vaccine for employees.
We will continue to keep you informed as we learn more and our advice is to seek legal counsel if you are considering mandating a Covid Vaccine.
Stay Safe and Keep tHRiving,
Karen Moss