Company Vaccine Mandates Becoming More Mainstream

As the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads across America, there is no requirement at this time under US laws that all employees of private businesses be vaccinated. Private employers have shown great creativity in trying to encourage vaccination while avoiding a hardline mandate. Dr. Bronners (of soap and toiletries fame) is reluctant to make vaccination mandatory for its employees. Instead, it is offering its employees a $1,000 bonus to get vaccinated. 

But more and more private employers are shifting from the carrot approach towards the stick, including big players in a diverse range of industries, from healthcare, insurance, transport, banking, law, to food production. Examples include United Airlines, Amtrak, Cisco, Anthem, and Tyson Foods.

It is very likely that the pool of employers requiring vaccination will grow.  If you are a private employer and you have not yet started thinking about how you will handle this issue, start planning now: whether you like it or not, employees - on both sides of the debate - are probably going to start asking you where you stand, and you may end up with PR egg on your face if you do not have a strategy in place.