A federal agency stated last week that employers can legally require employees to receive the coronavirus vaccine, or not to enter the workplace if they refuse.
The guideline came when millions of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses were distributed across the United States, with the first inoculation beginning last Monday. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already published updated guidelines on the vaccine following various allergic reactions in multiple states.
What are the details?
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an advisory on Wednesday saying that requiring workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine does not violate the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits employers from requiring medical examinations, such as blood tests, breath analyzes and blood pressure. screening “to obtain medical information about employees, the New York Times reported.
“If an employer administers a vaccine to an employee to protect against contracting COVID-19, the employer does not seek information about a person’s limitations or current health status, and therefore it is not a medical examination,” the EEOC said.
However, the agency said questions posed prior to vaccine administration could complicate matters.
While the administration of a vaccination is not a medical examination, questions about vaccination prior to screening may imply that the ADA provides questions about disabilities, which are questions likely to provide information about disabilities. When administering the vaccine, the employer must demonstrate that such pre-screening questions he asks his employees are “work related and consistent with business need”.
What about religious exceptions?
For workers whose “religious belief, practice, or compliance prevents them” from receiving the vaccine, the EEOC said employers should provide “reasonable accommodation” for workers, “unless doing so would create undue hardship under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. . “
Of course, religious beliefs or disabilities would not allow an employer to fire an employee who refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If an employee cannot be vaccinated against COVID-19 because of a disability or genuine religious belief, practice or compliance, and reasonable accommodation is not possible, then it would be permissible for the employer to exclude the employee from the workplace , ”said the EEOC.
“This does not mean that the employer can terminate the employee automatically,” the agency added.