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Federal guidance out this week suggests the law is on the side of employers if workers refuse vaccination. Vaccination can be considered a “condition of employment,” akin to a job qualification.
That said, employment lawyers believe many businesses will want to meet hesitant workers half-way.
CAN EMPLOYERS REQUIRE A CORONAVIRUS VACCINE?
Yes. Private companies and government agencies can require their employees to get vaccinated as a condition of working there. Individuals retain the right to refuse, but they have no ironclad right to legal protection.
Biden Says Requiring Vaccination for All Federal Workers Is ‘Under Consideration Biden s comments come after the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency requiring healthcare workers to receive the vaccine By Mae Anderson, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and The Associated Press •
Published July 27, 2021 •
Updated on July 27, 2021 at 4:13 pm
NBCUniversal Media, LLC
President Joe Biden says that requiring all federal workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus is “under consideration,” as the more infectious Delta variant surges across the United States and a significant chunk of Americans still refuse the shot.
Speaking Tuesday after delivering remarks at the office of the Director of National Intelligence, Biden affirmed that his administration was considering the possibility in response to a reporter’s question.
EXPLAINER: Employers have legal right to mandate COVID shots
MAE ANDERSON and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press
July 27, 2021
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1of6A patient has her body temperature screened after showing her COVID-19 vaccine card at the Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero in the Pico-Union district of Los Angeles, Monday, July 26, 2021. The clinic is a COVID-19 vaccine site. California said it will require proof of vaccination or weekly testing for all state workers and millions of public- and private-sector health care employees starting in August.Damian Dovarganes/APShow MoreShow Less
2of6Gov. Gavin Newsom, from left, Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf listen to spekers at a news conference in Oakland, Calif., Monday, July 26, 2021. California will require state employees and all health care workers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or get tested weekly. Officials are tightening restrictions in an effort to slow
Biden Says Requiring Vaccination for All Federal Workers Is ‘Under Consideration Biden s comments come after the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency requiring healthcare workers to receive the vaccine By Mae Anderson, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and The Associated Press •
Published July 27, 2021 •
Updated on July 27, 2021 at 2:13 pm
NBCUniversal Media, LLC
President Joe Biden says that requiring all federal workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus is “under consideration,” as the more infectious Delta variant surges across the United States and a significant chunk of Americans still refuse the shot.
Speaking Tuesday after delivering remarks at the office of the Director of National Intelligence, Biden affirmed that his administration was considering the possibility in response to a reporter’s question.
That said, employment lawyers believe many businesses will want to meet hesitant workers half-way.
CAN EMPLOYERS REQUIRE A CORONAVIRUS VACCINE?
Yes. Private companies and government agencies can require their employees to get vaccinated as a condition of working there. Individuals retain the right to refuse, but they have no ironclad right to legal protection.
“Those who have a disability or a sincerely held religious belief may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under civil rights laws, so long as providing that accommodation does not constitute an undue hardship for the employer,” said Sharon Perley Masling, an employment lawyer who leads the COVID-19 task force at Morgan Lewis.