Religious beliefs and health conditions that are private to employees have always been sensitive topics that U.S. employers have avoided touching, such as whether a female employee is pregnant or breastfeeding, or whether an employee is immunocompromised. The New York Times reports that after the impact of the New Guinea epidemic, employers will have to face the challenge of whether to require employees to complete the New Guinea vaccination before entering the office in the coming months.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said at a staff meeting in January that he hoped all of its 96,000 employees would be vaccinated because it was the right thing to do, and called on other airlines to follow suit. Four months later, no other major airline has made a similar announcement, and United Airlines has not made it mandatory for employees to get vaccinated.
The report analyzed that employers forcing employees to take vaccines could lead to lawsuits, with employees accusing them of violating their privacy and controlling their personal lives by “Big Brother” means.
Laura Boudreau, a professor of public policy at Columbia University, pointed out that from a legal perspective, U.S. employers can mandate vaccinations for employees and arrange expedient measures for religious and health factors to make the policy more acceptable, but in practice, few employers make mandatory regulations because In practice, few employers have mandates because of the risk of damage to the company’s reputation if they are not careful.
Douglas Brayley, a labor attorney, said employers who announce that employees must be vaccinated may encounter many difficulties at the operational level: “What if 10% of the employees insist that they don’t want to cooperate? Will the employer fire all of them?” He also said that if a high-powered supervisor in the company does not want to vaccinate, whether the company is fair to offer penalties, is also the employer must weigh the consequences.
Braley said employers become nervous once they think about the possible consequences of forcing employees to get vaccinated. He pointed out that if the rules are announced, but the operation of the differential treatment, it is likely to violate the workplace unequal treatment (unfair treatment) legal issues.
On the other hand, once a company forces a vaccination requirement on its employees, it has to bear the side effects or health conditions that may occur after the vaccination.
According to Karl Minges, director of the Center for Health Management and Policy at the University of New Haven, if any adverse health consequences occur in the year or two following an employee’s vaccination, the employer may be held legally responsible.
To avoid legal controversy, many employers have replaced mandatory requirements with incentives. Amtrak pays two hours of work for employees who show proof of vaccination. Darden, the parent company of the Italian restaurant chain Olive Garden, offers hourly employees two hours of pay for each dose of vaccine they receive, but stresses that it does not mandate vaccination.
Target is offering a $5 discount coupon to all employees and general consumers who receive the new vaccine at the CVS pharmacy attached to Target.
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