Updated Federal Guidance Allows Employers to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines

Employers are within their rights to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which was updated last Friday, Business Insider reports.

The new guidelines state that companies can ban unvaccinated employees from returning to the workplace. However, the guidelines also include protections for workers who may refuse the vaccine because of underlying medical conditions or conflicting religious beliefs, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers who determine that employees cannot be vaccinated because of a disability are not allowed to bar them from the workplace unless there is no accommodation that would eliminate or reduce the risk they pose to other workers. The same goes for employees who have religious objections to receiving the vaccine.

In neither case do employers have the right to automatically fire workers who cannot get the vaccine. First, they must determine whether the employees have rights under local and national discrimination laws.

The new guidelines also stipulate that companies may offer incentives, such as bonuses and paid time off, for employees who voluntarily receive vaccinations, as long as these incentives are not coercive.

Despite the guidelines, experts have said most employers will probably request that their workers get vaccinated rather than forcefully compel them to do so.