In December, as the United States prepared to launch its massive Covid-19 vaccination campaign, companies and industry groups were campaigning for federal and government officials to prioritize vaccines. Employers, such as Amazon and Lyft, and interest groups, such as the North American Meat Institute and the National Retail Federation, were putting their workers next in line. Vaccination guidelines varied from state to state, but some began to offer shots to general front-line workers, such as retail workers and food service personnel. This recent expansion has prompted U.S. businessmen to scramble to announce employee vaccination initiatives.
Under the leadership of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employers can require workers to receive a vaccination against Covid-19 unless they are disabled or have religious beliefs that prohibit them from vaccinating. However, few companies are willing to enforce such strict requirements. In a city hall for employees, Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, said he intends to make the shots mandatory for employees, but that is the exception. Other major airlines, including the Americans, Delta and Southwest, have yet to commit to such a decision.
Instead, most employers are giving a voluntary vaccination, and are working on programs to inform workers about the vaccine, its benefits and safety. For example, Uber has expanded features in its app that allow drivers in countries that vaccinate transportation workers to confirm their essential worker status.
Recently, more companies are offering paid incentives: McDonald’s, Trader Joe’s, Starbucks and Dollar General, to name a few, are offering workers four hours of extra pay to receive their two vaccine doses. Grocery chains Lidl and Kroger give $ 200 and $ 100 bonuses to vaccinated workers, respectively; Texas’ largest hospital system, employing 26,000 people, offers $ 500 “hope bonuses”. Part-time and full-time employees at Target receive $ 15 in Lyft ride credit each way to and from the vaccination site, in addition to four hours of additional payment.
These corporate-driven initiatives are similar to what companies began offering during election years – to pay workers to vote or even to work at the polls. Such measures are likely to generate positive pressure for employers, but it is also beneficial to encourage vaccinations among the public. Some large companies, such as Walmart and Amazon, still gave courage to offer incentives, even though Amazon planned to file vaccinations on the premises at certain locations.
The decentralized nature of vaccine vaccination has made it difficult to plan ahead compared to rearranging employees around a set date such as election day. Most businesses expect employees to plan and receive the shots on their own time. In some cases, like McDonald’s, a corporation only oversees corporate employees or those at restaurants in the company, not its franchises. This severely limits the number of employees who can receive benefits for vaccinations.
“It comes down to flexible policies for people to take the time off when they need it or have a moderate workload,” Rebecca Reindel, director of safety and health at the AFL-CIO working group, told USA Today.
Employers realize that monetary incentives – and even help with vaccine planning – can serve as a good motivation. A survey by the Blackhawk Incentive Solutions Company found that more than two-thirds of 1,000 adult respondents would accept some form of monetary compensation for being vaccinated. However, some advocates are reluctant to endorse the practice, as it may be considered coercive or even discriminatory for those who are medically incapable of taking vaccinations. “The law here is really irregular. “Even if we have the best of intentions, we need to be aware of the fact that there are other people whose rights can be violated,” Valdi Licul, a civil rights lawyer and partner at Wigdor LLP, told Bloomberg News.
The question of who should prioritize vaccine in the first place – and whether employers should demand or encourage it – is complicated. As Emily Stewart previously reported for Recode, Covid-19 is a significant threat to the business workforce, but the authorization to use the emergency vaccine could make it difficult for employers: ‘Employers have an obligation to ensure a safe and maintain a healthy workforce, including infection mitigation procedures, but the vaccine obligation entails special obligations.
Some unions, such as the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, call on employers and states not only to prioritize workers in the vaccination process, but also to implement measures such as pay-as-you-go or additional paid leave. The categorization of jobs that are ‘essential’ or worth prioritizing applies particularly to self-employed or contracted workers who are not supported by companies. The Los Angeles Times reports that health care workers who are not directly employed at hospitals are advocating being considered a priority group in California because they continue to care for patients. Workers contracted by large companies also fear being left behind, despite working in high-risk environments.
Now that the US has bought enough doses to vaccinate all Americans, it remains to be seen how – and whether – employers will play a more active role in distributing employees’ vaccine.