Missouri’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been slowly unfolding, with vulnerable populations and essential workers only beginning to get inoculated. So far, registration has been voluntary, but the more people who are vaccinated, the safer it will be for workers and those with whom they interact. It’s in the best interest of employers to make sure as many of their employees as possible are vaccinated, which raises the question: Can companies require workers to get vaccinated?
“The short answer is yes, they can,” says Jerina Phillips, a member of St. Louis law firm Lewis Rice who has experience in employment litigation. “But they have to take into account certain exceptions. Those exceptions are if an employee has a disability-related objection to receiving the vaccine, or if the employee has a sincerely-held religious belief (against) receiving the vaccine.”
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The guidance comes from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws. In December, the EEOC published updated guidelines for companies considering requiring workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccination as they become more readily available.
But just because companies can mandate vaccinations, doesn’t mean they will—or should.
“Because of all the issues surrounding the vaccine, the fact that it has been approved for emergency use, the fact that so many folks are skeptical and scared to take it, I think employers should consider that,” Phillips says. “Do they have a workforce where their employees would be amenable to receiving the vaccine? Start there. I know some employers are actively trying to educate their employees about the benefits of taking the vaccine. They’re trying to dispel any conspiracy theories or myths that it may be unsafe.”
Rather than requiring vaccination, a few companies, such as Dollar General, Aldi, and Trader Joe’s, have incentivized the process. Aldi, for example, announced in January that it will provide workers with two hours of pay for each dose they receive, up to four hours.
Alternatively, using careful framing, employers could make their expectation that employees get vaccinated more palatable. Shifting the conversation from being about requirements to being about encouragement could reduce pushback among employees.
“We see a lot of employers, especially a lot of larger employers, take the position that they want to encourage their employees to take the vaccine because it’s important for the health and safety of the workforce,” Phillips says. “I’ve seen a lot of employers go that route. I’ve seen employers send out surveys to their employees to see who would want the vaccine and prioritize who gets it, based on that survey. So there are a lot of different ways to go about it.”
