Vaccines and the Workplace
Anyone watching the news today has seen report after report about a possible vaccine for the coronavirus and the speedy progress being made towards its development. This vaccine is hoped by many to be the cure all to allow the world to go back to some semblance of the normalcy that existed before the commencement of the current pandemic. While all would seemingly acknowledge that an effective and reliable vaccine for COVID-19 would be wonderful news, the success of the vaccine in bringing back normalcy will largely depend upon how willing the general public will be in taking the vaccine. Which leads me to the question that I have already been asked by several of my clients: in an age of a pandemic, can employers force their employees to undergo a vaccine treatment as a condition of employment?
While the current pandemic is new, the above question is not. With the rise of the anti-vaccine movement, employers have actually had to grapple with this issue, especially those in the health care industry. In this regard, there are already several reported cases regarding whether hospitals and other health care providers can require employees to have flu and tuberculosis vaccines as a condition of continuing employment. Employees have been fired for not agreeing to be vaccinated, and a body of law has developed addressing this issue. Absent a compelling reason for refusing a vaccination, the case law holds predominantly that employers can indeed require vaccinations as a term and condition of employment, and employees without a valid religious or medical reason for rejecting a vaccination can indeed be fired. In the large majority of such cases, the courts have determined that the employer has a compelling interest in maintaining the safety of their workplace and the health of those whom they serve. Such legal principles would thus seemingly support the idea that, when a vaccine is discovered for COVID-19, an employer could mandate that employees receive such inoculations, subject to having to consider the possible exemptions previously noted. In an age of a pandemic, and a virus that has killed hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide, it is hard to fathom a more serious threat to public health and an employer’s workforce and its customers that could justify a required vaccine employer directive.
Moreover, in March 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) also issued COVID-19 guidance specifically addressing the issue of whether employers covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) can compel all employees to take the influenza vaccine (while noting that there was not yet a COVID-19 vaccine). In responding to this question, the EEOC stated that an employee could be entitled to an exemption from a mandatory vaccination under the ADA based on a disability that prevents the employee from taking the vaccine, which would be a reasonable accommodation that the employer would be required to grant unless it would result in undue hardship to the employer. Under the ADA, “undue hardship” is defined as “significant difficulty or expense” incurred by the employer in providing an accommodation. The EEOC made similar mention of a possible religious obligation exception under Title VII also absent the required showing of an undue hardship.
Finally, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) similarly has declared that employers may require employees to be inoculated against the flu, provided the employer provides to its employees an explanation of the benefits of the inoculation, and further allows for an exception for those employees who reasonably believe that they are at significant risk of serious medical complications from having the vaccination.
So, as we wait for a vaccine to become available, employers should begin thinking about what they will be demanding of their employees regarding the need to receive a vaccination when it begins to be widely distributed. Should employers require vaccinations of all employees, or only those employees who are most high risk for serious complications from COVID? If an employer opts for the latter, could that approach open the door to discrimination claims from those who are older or have disabilities who are at higher risk? And, how do you handle the expected requests for religious and medical accommodations, and can you avoid such duties by arguing that accommodation would impose an undue hardship by increasing the risk of possible COVID spread in your workforce?
Employers: Begin your analysis of these issues now because if the reports in the news are indeed true of expedited success in creating a vaccine, you will need to address those issues much sooner than you presently think.
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