Employers, What’s Your Vaccination Strategy? An Employment Lawyer Focused on COVID-19 Issues in the Workplace Shares His Insights
by Rick Grimaldi At long last the COVID-19 vaccines are here. While employers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief, they are also wondering how to best handle the sticky subject (pun intended) of getting their employees vaccinated and back to work ASAP. The good news is many employees appear to want the vaccine. Recent poll numbers indicate that 71 percent of those surveyed are willing to get
What should employers do now to prepare for the imminent widespread distribution of vaccines? Read on for Grimaldi’s thoughts.
vaccinated, up from 65 percent in late December and the highest number since July. Despite the imminent widespread availability of vaccines and an increasing likelihood that workers will want to receive the shot, many employers don’t yet have a plan to deal with vaccinating their workforces,” says Rick Grimaldi, attorney at the forefront of COVID-19 workplace issues. “Before you know it, it will be time to start bringing people back to work. To do that in the safest and quickest way possible, you need to start preparing now.”
of workforces sooner than later. With that in mind, your organization should be preparing right now for how you will encourage employees to get vaccinated so they can safely return to work.
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Develop a vaccine implementation plan now. As Dr. Fauci explained, the number of available doses by March and April will allow for much more of a “mass vaccination approach.” For employers, this increases the likelihood of the mass vaccination
Decide whether you will mandate the vaccine. (It’s your choice.) As an employer, you can make the vaccine mandatory as long as you honor federal anti-discrimination laws. However, most employers are avoiding this option. Instead, they are trying to incentivize employees to be vaccinated voluntarily. Grimaldi points out that the issue of whether to mandate is very
industry specific and employers must take consideration of those who object for health or religious reasons. “Even if you don’t mandate the vaccine, you can address the potential roadblocks that might prevent employees from being vaccinated and reward employees with a variety of incentives,” says Grimaldi. Mount an effective vaccine education campaign. While concerns about vaccination side effects are legitimate, worries over contracting COVID-19 from the vaccine—and other safety concerns—are based on inaccurate information. You can help ease some of this apprehension by providing accurate information and offering clarifications to address misinformation directly. This includes being as forthcoming as possible about likely side effects and providing information about the benefits of getting vaccinated. “Employees who understand how the vaccine has been tested, its effectiveness, and track record are generally more likely to get vaccinated,” says Grimaldi. “In providing access to helpful information, you should be mindful that employees place much more confidence in information from established healthcare authorities rather than material from the vaccine manufacturers or political figures.”
The National Dipper
July/August 2021
