COVID was and still is a gigantic nuisance for businesses of all sizes and stature. Companies that had the capability to transition online did so and continued their function. On the other hand, companies that required on-premise work had to shut down completely or seriously slow down their work.
Luckily the solution is here in the form of the COVID vaccine, and employers are allowed to mandate vaccination for work. But before you enforce any such rule in your company, a chat with your Corporate attorney is not a bad idea.
The first thing you have to ask yourself is that you can, but should you? Not everyone can just drive to their local hospital and get the vaccination. It is a long and expensive process and takes time and money that not every employee of your company might have.
Regardless, if you do want to enforce such rules and mandate vaccination, then you should follow these guidelines issued by the EEOC.
The first and most important is the decision between in-house vaccination or 3rd party vaccination. The EEOC recommends employers contract third-party professionals that have the required expertise, experience, and equipment to perform this delicate operation efficiently, and accurately. Another reason why in-house vaccination is opposed is to avoid giving employers access to medical history and information that is a bit too personal for an employer to have.
Secondly, the employers are required to make active adjustments if one or more of the employees can not or should not get the vaccination. The reason can be anything from medical reasons to religion. But if anyone can’t get the vaccine, the employer should make adjustments to the premises according to the number of unvaccinated employees.
Is it the right thing to do?
Mandating vaccination seems like a logical step, but is it the moral thing to do? There are already so many questions attached to this proposition. The vaccination is quite new and didn’t have the time to be thoroughly tested. What will happen if an employee’s health condition becomes worse after the vaccination? Who will be held accountable? Should the employers even be allowed to mandate such a thing? What is the line between an endorsement and a requirement? These are the sort of questions that need to be asked. And until you have a clear answer for all of them, requiring vaccination can easily become a mess.