Employers Turn to Stricter Vaccine Rules as Virus Surges
Businesses may have a green light from federal regulators to offer workers rewards like cash for getting inoculated against COVID-19, but spiking infection rates are pushing employers to instead impose more punitive measures like weekly testing and benefits surcharges on unvaccinated employees, experts say.
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Blank Rome LLP partner Brooke Iley similarly said the combination of the delta variant and recently updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which tightened recommendations on mask-wearing, has dampened the appeal of doling out rewards to workers to get the shots.
“The delta variant, the new CDC guidance and OSHA guidance, and the ability for vaccinated individuals to infect others is really just kind of pushing employers past incentives to mandatory programs,” Iley said. “So we've kind of jumped the shark on the incentives.”
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Blank Rome’s Iley similarly said it's advisable for employers to give workers who have valid religious or medical reasons for not getting vaccinated a path to claim any incentives that are offered to avoid being hit with allegations of bias.
“Even though the EEOC was silent in its guidance, I think it's a best practice to really consider providing the incentive to the employee as a reasonable accommodation,” Iley said. “The incentive[s], if they're small, [can] certainly provide protection against discrimination or retaliation claims.”
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“Employers Turn To Stricter Vaccine Rules as Virus Surges,“ by Vin Gurrieri was published in Law360 on August 20, 2021.