Vaccine Approvals Lead to More Mandates

Now that several of the vaccines have received full FDA approval, employers are jumping on the mandate bandwagon. Several companies have mandates requiring employees to get vaccinated. Others are punishing those who don’t get vaccinated by charging them more for health insurance and other costs like testing.

The important thing to remember is employers are within their rights to mandate vaccines for their workers.

According to an article from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the legal aspect of mandates was of concern:

Now that the Pfizer vaccine has gained full FDA approval, employers may be more likely to go forward with these policies, said Zach Siegel, an attorney with Hogan Lovells in Philadelphia.

Employment law attorneys generally have said that private employers can require at-will employees to get a vaccine authorized for emergency use. But the full authorization does mitigate concerns from some people who thought there hadn’t been enough research into the vaccines, observed Krista Mitzel, an attorney with The Mitzel Group in San Francisco. “Many employers are still struggling to find ways of keeping businesses open and their workers safe,” she said, “and this FDA approval provides a way to more confidently move toward going back to normal.”

Contractors should expect their customers to now require workers on their jobs to be vaccinated. Companies will have to make tough decisions based on their client’s needs and their need for skilled labor. With a labor shortage that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, finding workers is difficult. Contractors should work with their clients to determine how best to navigate these muddy waters.