State, local governments legally able to require vaccinations for employees Workplaces could require employees to be vaccinated By Camille Connor | December 22, 2020 at 2:31 PM CST - Updated December 22 at 6:36 PM MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - As the COVID-19 vaccine continues to be shipped across the country, employees wonder if their place of business will require them to be vaccinated. “It doesn’t violate the 14th amendment,” said Tressa Johnson, partner and employment attorney with Johnson & Bennet Law PLLC. Can employers require you to get a vaccine? Johnson added that government employers requiring employees to be vaccinated is nothing new; in fact, there’s a more than 100-year-old precedent.