Should You Force Your Employees to Get Vaccinated?

Vaccine mandates are spreading in many nations, especially for public service workers and civil servants. Should you demand the shot as a condition of employment? It’s more complex than it seems.

Episode Summary:

As Covid 19 drags on, most nations in the world of opted for a mass immunization strategy, rather than natural immunity to control the pandemic. In America, the issue has morphed into a multidimensional political battle, with issues such as the efficacy and safety of vaccines on the table, as well as the age-old argument about public good and personal liberty. But for your business, whether you should compel employees to vaccinate will not come down to politics. Jim Anderton explains.

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As icons in US business go, they don’t get much bigger than IBM. And the CNBC headline said it all: “IBM says all employees must be vaccinated or face suspension”. Now vaccine mandates for things like entering the country or flying in airplanes have been controversial enough, and the public service unions have been very vocal about this issue. In most places in the world, mass public vaccination is a given, and populations readily accepts these public health measures.

But America’s different. Rugged individualism is the historic American cultural meme, and a large number of Americans have serious doubts about vaccine efficacy, safety, and the right of governments or institutions to demand compliance. There is also a very large cohort of Americans who accept the science and have willingly taken the vaccines. Naturally, they have no issue with corporate or institutional vaccine mandates, and many are very vocal about people who disagree.

Of course, to make vaccines work, a critical mass of people must take the shot, and experts I’ve heard this year are talking about uptake rates of not less than 70% to make the program effective. But outside of government mandates, what responsibility does American business have to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in their operations? OSHA has published an emergency temporary standard or ETS that defines employer responsibility for preventing the spread of Covid in the workplace.

Significantly, it applies specifically to the healthcare industry, and specifically does not apply to other types of enterprise. And just as significantly, current OSHA rules do not require or even suggest a vaccine mandate from employers. OSHA’s Covid 19 guidance does however, remind employers that they are legally required to, in the words of the enabling act “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”

So what does this mean? It means that the business is liable for any serious physical harm that comes to an employee from a recognized hazard. Is Covid 19 a recognized hazard? Clearly, yes. Could Covid 19 do serious physical harm? Clearly, also yes. From a liability perspective, should a workplace become the site of the super spreader event, or just a place where someone gets seriously ill or dies from Covid, whether the business is liable will be judged by a standard of reasonableness.

And that standard is highly context dependent. If your job shop is in a neighbourhood with a very high infection rate, and you have employees known to have compromised immune systems, a vaccine mandate may be sensible in more ways than one. But if you have business-critical employees, or a large number of your staff who simply refuse to take the shot, can you survive without them? Tough choices. What if you are facing employees that are adamant that they will not take the Covid 19 shot? At IBM, they will be suspended without pay.

Your business may not be able to afford to take that hard line. What would I do? Bring in a healthcare expert to give a short talk to all staff explaining the importance and benefit of vaccines. Offer to pay for the shot, and give paid time off as necessary to get the vaccine. Maybe offer a little money as an incentive too. These things not only show that you care, in the very unfortunate event of an outbreak in your business, they also show a judge or jury that you have taken every step short of a condition of employment to get your staff vaccinated. It’s possible that your insurance carrier may have a recommended policy. It’s probably worth making a quick call to find out.

But what isn’t a good idea is to wait for OSHA or some government agency to hand down a ruling. Even a frivolous lawsuit can be time consuming and expensive. Me? I’m double vaccinated, and I feel fine. And I’m most comfortable working with people who think the same way I do.

Written by

James Anderton

Jim Anderton is the Director of Content for ENGINEERING.com. Mr. Anderton was formerly editor of Canadian Metalworking Magazine and has contributed to a wide range of print and on-line publications, including Design Engineering, Canadian Plastics, Service Station and Garage Management, Autovision, and the National Post. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and part design for a Tier One automotive supplier.