As Many Return to the Office, Tensions Flare between the ‘Vaxxed and Unvaxxed’
Office politics have been a thing of the past for most of us over the last 18 months, as millions of people worked from home throughout Covid-induced lockdowns.
Now, as many employees return to their offices, tensions appear to be emerging along new lines: those who are vaccinated against Covid, and those who are not.
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Anthony Mingione, an employment lawyer and partner in the New York office of law firm Blank Rome, said disputes and resentment over vaccination and mask-wearing in the workplace are coming to the fore — and it’s having an impact on the return to the office.
“The tension between vaccinated and unvaccinated colleagues is a key issue behind the slowing rate of large-scale office returns,” he told CNBC on Wednesday.
“One of the conflicts we are seeing is the clash between vaccinated workers who have returned to the workplace and unvaccinated workers who continue to work remotely,” he said. “Many times vaccinated employees feel like they are being unfairly forced to shoulder work responsibilities for unvaccinated colleagues.”
Mingione said employers were now having to impose their own Covid policies, as governments relax the required safety protocols, finding themselves in a gray area.
“Without the cover provided by hard and fast rules, businesses seeking a return to the office must adopt work rules that get employees back onsite while also keeping them safe — all against the backdrop of a polarizing political climate,” he said.
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Some employers have been reluctant to enforce workplace rules on vaccines and masks in an effort to avoid conflict, Blank Rome’s Mingione added, but that could lead to more conflicts down the road.
“Selective enforcement of any policy — even with good intentions — can lead to dropping morale, employee conflicts and low productivity,” he said. “As the Delta variant runs rampant and stories of breakthrough infections permeate the news cycle, these workplace conflicts have continued to increase.
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“As Many Return to the Office, Tensions Flare between the ‘Vaxxed and Unvaxxed’,” by Holly Ellyatt, was published at CNBC on September 13, 2021.