For many business owners, the question of whether to require worker vaccinations against COVID-19 once seemed an easy choice: With so many people lined up for vaccine shots when they were first released, it appeared simple encouragement and maybe a few incentives would be enough to get people safely back to work. Those days are quickly coming to an end.
The mandatory shot scenario has resurfaced among private companies due to the spread of the Delta variant; stubborn vaccine hesitancy in parts of the country and Wisconsin; and fear of exposing all workers, their families, customers, and vendors to COVID-19. Many businesses will once again consider requiring employee vaccinations or regular testing if those employees refuse.
Make no mistake: For most of those who refuse and who don’t qualify for specific exemptions, the law says they can be fired. Across the country, governments, health systems, and major companies are moving to require vaccinations or regular testing. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has made it clear firing is an option companies can pursue.
“It’s like any other job requirement,” said Sheila Conroy, a partner in Lake Effect HR & Law, a Madison-based firm. “If you’re required to wear steel-toed boots on the job and you refuse to do so because you don’t like how they look, you could be disciplined or fired for that too.”
Conroy isn’t suggesting all employers should follow a “vax-or-vamoose” course with workers. She thinks it’s a complicated choice that depends on many variables: the nature of the workforce and workplace; navigating proper “accommodations” for employees with medical conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs; union relations; geography; and fear of losing good employees.
Still, for those businesses that thought a voluntary approach was going to do the trick, it has become apparent that “plan B” is fast becoming an option. “It was really clear from the get-go that employers could require vaccinations within established parameters, but I think most believed that with strong encouragement and some incentives, most of their employees would get the vaccine,” Conroy said. “There was more resistance than some employers anticipated.”
While many employers were aware as early as the spring that it was legal to fire employees who refused to vaccinate or test routinely, most didn’t want the hassle of setting up a mandatory system or the risk of a court challenge. Now, with more companies drawing the vaccination line, others may draw comfort in knowing they’re not alone.
Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
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