Can Employees Be Required to Take a Coronavirus Vaccine?
As the country plans for the distribution of hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines, employers are considering what the vaccine means for their employees.
The news that a coronavirus vaccine could start being distributed within the next few weeks has sent stocks soaring and government officials scrambling to develop plans for the herculean task of distributing it across the country.
For employers, many of which have kept workers home for months, it has opened a complex set of legal and practical issues: Can they require employees to take a vaccine? Should they offer incentives instead to encourage compliance? And what should they do if employees resist?
The initial question - whether employees can be required to be vaccinated - likely depends on the employer’s business. It is easier for a large health care employer to require vaccination than it is for a small remote-based software company. Distinctions could also be made based on job function - for example, between a saleswoman who interacts with multiple customers vs an IT support professional.
Even if employees can be required to take the vaccine, an employer has to offer reasonable accommodations to those with disabilities or religious objections. Other state and local laws may still apply as well.
Employers that choose to encourage voluntary vaccinations must decide how best to encourage that compliance. For example, the employer could provide paid time off for vaccination appointments, offer on-site vaccination clinics, or start a company-wide education campaign.
Additional guidance for employers is forthcoming from federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control. In the meantime, however, employers should begin to develop vaccination policies which are clear, written, communicated well, and applied consistently.