Can Your Employer Require You To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?

There is not yet a COVID-19 vaccine authorized for general use in the United States, but following promising clinical trials from Moderna and Pfizer, many Americans are starting to wonder when they’re going to soon get access to a vaccine and whether getting vaccinated will be a job requirement.

Employers must abide by federal and state laws, but so far there is not a strong appetite for a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In August, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, said he would “definitely not” support a nationwide mandate on the COVID-19 vaccine. “We don’t want to be mandating from the federal government to the general population. It would be unenforceable and not appropriate,” Fauci said.

States and cities have mandated vaccines in the past. The 1905 Supreme Court case Jacobson v. Massachusetts upheld a state’s compulsory smallpox vaccination law. But even if a government mandate does not happen, could your employer still make it a job requirement to get a COVID-19 vaccine once it is widely available?

Employers can likely mandate a vaccine, but they will have to consider employees’ rights first.

Florida-based employment attorney Donna Ballman said that employers probably can mandate a COVID-19 vaccine with exceptions. If you’re an at-will employee, “employers can say, yes, provide proof that you’ve been vaccinated or you’re fired, or you cannot come in or you have to work remotely.” Ballman noted that for unionized workforces, collective bargaining agreements would need to be consulted before a mandate.

Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University, said he could foresee a number of employers requiring staff to get a COVID-19 vaccine once it is widely available. He pointed to hospitals and health care facilities, which already require influenza vaccines as a condition of employment.

“These have been thought to be lawful because the employer is not breaking any law. That is, they are doing it for the health and safety of their employers and their customers, and they have a duty to keep their employees and customers safe. And they are not discriminating on the basis of gender, race and disability,“ he said.

But employees have rights, too.

“Once you mandate, you very possibly have to pay people for their time to go get it,” Ballman said. “It’s going to be more complicated than just signing a memo like, ‘OK, everybody has to get the vaccine.’” Ballman said an employee is fired for not physically being able to get the vaccine on their own timeline, that could also be considered disability discrimination.

In its 2009 guidance on pandemic preparedness, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, said that people with disabilities covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act and people whose religious beliefs are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act may be entitled to an exemption from a mandatory flu vaccine. In regards to a possible COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the EEOC told HuffPost it “is actively evaluating how a potential vaccine would interact with employers’ obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the other laws the Commission enforces.”

What about other federal agencies’ guidance? Under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s general duty clause, employers must provide a workplace “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” So far, OSHA has not said what its employer policies will be on COVID-19 vaccines. Gostin said he does not think OSHA will require employers to mandate vaccines, “but I could foresee that they would advise them to make COVID vaccines accessible to employees in the workplace.“

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declined to comment on its employer recommendations regarding a COVID-19 vaccine.

Instead of a mandate, employers could also make it harder to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine.

Mandates are not the only option employers are starting to plan for.

“Most clients right now are leaning toward encouraging rather than requiring the vaccine, just because there are still so many unanswered questions,” said Sharon Perley Masling, a director of workplace culture consulting at the Morgan Lewis law firm.

Masling said these unanswered questions include whether a COVID-19 vaccine being approved under an emergency use authorization would be treated the same as if it were fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration; whether a vaccine will be available and under what circumstances to employees; and what would the side effects be of the vaccination.

“I think it is wise for employers to start planning, but those plans are going to be revised as we get more information,” Masling said.

Whether or not companies decide to require COVID-19 vaccination, their recommendations are expected to hold a lot of sway over employees’ health decisions. Gostin was the co-author of a June survey that asked 13,426 people in 19 countries about their acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine. About 61% said they would likely get a COVID-19 vaccine if their employer recommended it.

In lieu of an employer mandate, small nudges like employees’ access to a vaccine can make a difference. Research has found that the more an employee walks by a worksite vaccine clinic, for example, the more likely they are to get vaccinated.

Gostin said making a COVID-19 vaccination the norm at work could be an effective way to increase the number of employees who are vaccinated. Under this scenario, employers would offer it to all of their workers, and if an employee refused to get one, they would need to sign a form or get a doctor’s certificate stating why. Gostin said research has shown that those extra hurdles increase employee compliance on vaccinations.

“That little nudge, making it just a little bit harder to say no, means more people say yes,” Gostin said. “You can accomplish the same objective without a mandate.”

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Experts are still learning about COVID-19. The information in this story is what was known or available as of publication, but guidance can change as scientists discover more about the virus. Please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most updated recommendations.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.