Lawyers: Employers Have Advantage When It Comes to COVID-19 Workplace Vaccinations
The general consensus of several employment attorneys interviewed on the legal ramifications over whether or not employers can mandate their workers be vaccinated appears to be on the side of management.
Those same attorneys, though, believe that most employers will not try to mandate vaccinations and will, instead, try to work with their employees.
Those numbers are also borne out in a recent survey that the national law firm Blank Rome conducted.
According to Susan Bickley, a partner based in Houston in Blank Rome’s labor and employment group, the law firm sent out a spring 2021 survey on the attitudes of the leaders of 130 companies, including regional, state-based, national and international. That survey showed only 15% of management at those companies wanted to mandate that employees be vaccinated, while 85% of the respondents said either they wouldn’t have a mandate policy or haven’t decided the issue.
“It’s a tough process and one size does not fit all,” Bickley said with regard to what employers want to do.
Bickley says the results of her survey bear out what she’s seen: That most employers want to work with their employees to come up with a plan all can agree on, if possible.
“One larger international company based here in Texas decided they will encourage their employees to be vaccinated and will continue to have social distancing, but will use the honor system on who was vaccinated and who should still wear a mask,” Bickley said.
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“Lawyers: Employers Have Advantage When It Comes to COVID-19 Workplace Vaccinations,” by Robert Storace, was published in the Connecticut Law Tribune on May 27, 2021