NMC Blog COVID-19 Workplace Vaccine Requirements

Immunization/Vaccine Identification from NMC As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more readily available, several new considerations come to light. Will your workplace require vaccinations? Can your workplace require vaccinations? Will you require visitors/contractors to be vaccinated? How will you communicate your workplace requirements? These questions should be posed now. How Much Latitude do Employers Have? Employers' power to mandate inoculations comes from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). OSHA's position was spelled out in 2009 during the H1N1 ("swine flu") outbreak. OSHA said that while it doesn't require employees to be vaccinated, employers may mandate inoculations. "It is important to note," OSHA added, "that employees need to be properly informed of the benefits of vaccinations." The EEOC issued its guidance on employee vaccinations on March 21, 2020, during the pandemic's early days in the U.S. The EEOC restricted its guidance to employers covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act - meaning those with 15 or more employees-and concluded that they should "encourage" employees to be vaccinated. The EEOC noted, however, that under the ADA, an employee can be exempted if they have a disability ... READ MOREThe post COVID-19 Workplace Vaccine Requirements appeared first on Safety Matters.