Can Employers Require COVID Vaccine?
According to the World Health Organization, over 13 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been given as of June 2023. Over three years since the pandemic began, many people may be wondering: Can employers require COVID vaccine? In Georgia, employers can require an employee to take the COVID vaccine. But the answer to this varies from state to state. Private employers often can require COVID vaccination as a condition for employment in states that have not banned vaccine mandates. Some states may have specific regulations requiring vaccination in limited circumstances such as healthcare settings, while other states have outlawed public sector mandates.
Requirements for Medical and Religious Exemptions
The Society for Human Resource Management explains that employers must consider accommodations for employees who refuse to get vaccinated due to medical reasons or religious beliefs. State and federal laws in the United States protect employees from workplace abuse, including employment discrimination due to religion.
What Happens if I Do Not Get Vaccinated?
“Can employers require COVID vaccine?” is a question that ties into workers’ rights. In some cases, particularly in situations concerning private companies, people who do not get vaccinated may be terminated for not complying with company policy. In that scenario, the person may not be eligible for unemployment benefits because the company has “cause” for terminating the employment of the person who refused to abide by the company requirements for employment by getting vaccinated.
Not all states employ the same definition of termination for cause, however.. States like Arkansas, Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, and Kansas have passed laws that employees who lose their job because they refused to get vaccinated are eligible for unemployment. Other states, such as Oregon, have public health laws regarding vaccinations against communicative diseases that make it unlikely that a person would be eligible to receive benefits after being fired from their job for refusing to get a vaccination required by their employer.
Can an Employer Require COVID Testing?
A question that often accompanies the question “Can employers require COVID vaccine?” is whether those same employers can legally require COVID testing. The Americans with Disabilities Act states that employers may not require employees to undergo medical examinations, unless:
- The medical tests are related to the job.
- The exams are considered a business necessity.
During the height of the pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stated that COVID fulfilled these criteria, as transmission of the circulating virus endangered the welfare of others. However, as governments have lifted restrictions, the criteria have changed. Currently, an answer to the question of whether COVID testing is a business necessity may be dependent on multiple factors, including the level of community transmission, the vaccination status of employees, and the severity and transmissibility of the currently dominant variant.
Do Healthcare Workers Have To Be Vaccinated?
In May of 2023, the White House officially announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency had ended. The Biden-Harris administration also announced that they were ending COVID-19 vaccine requirements for Federal employees, Federal contractors, international air travelers, and healthcare workers at government-funded hospitals and nursing homes. However, most healthcare facilities in the United States are in private ownership and can legally require the COVID vaccine if they provide accommodation for those who require exemption due to medical or religious reasons.
Who Should Not Take the COVID Vaccine?
People asking the question, “Can employers require COVID vaccine?” may be concerned about the safety of the COVID vaccine. In the United States, the COVID vaccine is recommended for everyone over the age of six months. The vaccine is safe for:
- People with pre-existing conditions, including auto-immune disorders
- Pregnant or nursing people
- People who have had COVID
- Children
People who should not take the vaccine include:
- Anyone with a history of severe allergic reactions to the ingredients in the COVID vaccine (as there are now a few different COVID vaccine formulations, individuals who are concerned about allergic reactions may wish to check with their healthcare providers to see if one of the options may be right for them)
- Anyone with a high fever on the day of their appointment (these individuals should postpone their vaccination until the fever has subsided)
- People who currently have COVID
Can an Employer Ask About Vaccination Status?
Individuals who wonder, “Can employers require COVID vaccine?” may also have questions about whether employers can ask about their vaccination status. In the United States, the combination of serious expectations regarding the responsibility of employers to provide safe workplaces, on the one hand, and a legal tradition of robust privacy protections for individuals, on the other, sometimes leads to tension when these two concerns pull in different directions.
Employers are required to protect the welfare of their workforce, which means that in many cases they can ask employees about their immunization status for COVID and other communicable diseases. However, they must do so in a way that does not ask for further information from the employee. Essentially, they may only ask about the vaccination as a yes or no question and should avoid asking follow-up questions, as this could result in the employee feeling coerced into sharing medical information that is protected by other privacy laws.
Get Help With Employer Vaccination Requirements From a Georgia Employment Law Attorney
The question, “Can employers require COVID vaccine?” elicits a secondary set of important questions about employees’ rights. Employees who are aware of their rights are better equipped to defend them in court, as well as to advocate for accommodations in the workplace. The experienced workers’ rights labor and employment law lawyers with Hall & Lampros, LLP are tireless in helping Georgia employees who have faced workplace abuses assert their rights in the workforce. To learn more and schedule a consultation to discuss your situation and review your legal rights, call our office today at (404) 876-8100.
Chris has successfully represented numerous clients in catastrophic personal injury, employment law matters, class action, consumer protection, business tort, and legislative matters involving multi-million-dollar damages.