Marriott gives employees an interesting incentive to get vaccinated.
Marriott will pay employees to be vaccinated
It has been announced that Marriott has set up the Vaccination Care program, which will provide financial rewards to employees at managed properties in the United States and Canada. With this, Marriott employees receive pay approximately four hours after being vaccinated.
Marriott states that it supports global vaccination efforts. The company also teaches about the benefits of vaccination and instructs the hotel management to appoint flexibility for vaccinations. Marriott strongly encourages employees to be vaccinated, but does not make it mandatory for now.
As David Rodriguez, Marriott’s World Human Resources Officer, describes this step:
“The health and safety of our people is our top priority. Our goal for the vaccination care program is to remove potential barriers to vaccination so that our employees can put their health first and have peace of mind. Marriott International is confident that vaccination is an important measure, along with wearing masks, social distancing and sharpened beauty protocols and hygiene practices to spread COVID-19.
As vaccines become more widely available, it will create a safer environment for all staff, and we believe that consumer confidence in traveling again will increase significantly and help the recovery of the travel and tourism sector. We value the support of our managed hotel owners and encourage the industry and our franchisees to provide flexibility and incentives to their employees as an important step in the recovery of our industry. ”
It’s Day by Marriott
It’s not very often that Marriott is innovative, but I have to give the hotel group credit here because I think it’s really well thought out. We have seen many travel brands talk about the importance of vaccination, but we have not seen how it creates incentives to be vaccinated.
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, for example, has stated that he wants vaccination to be mandatory for all employees. He explained that other companies must take a similar stance in order to be able to happen differently, otherwise United will not be able to get away with it.
I think Marriott is following exactly the right approach here – the company is giving employees an incentive to be vaccinated and encouraging properties to be flexible with the working hours so that it can be easily facilitated.
Although we can finally see that businesses are making vaccination compulsory, in my opinion this is the right solution.
Finally, it is important that employees in the travel industry are vaccinated – it’s not just about keeping them safe, but also about keeping guests safe, as most early studies indicate that vaccinated people are also less likely to spread coronavirus. .
Looking at other parts of the travel industry, Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi, recently became the first major airline to vaccinate all pilots and cabin crew. The company did not make it mandatory, but rather said that those who choose not to be vaccinated are entitled to sick leave or health insurance benefits by the company if they get coronavirus.
Bottom line
Marriott is encouraging hotel employees in the U.S. and Canada to be vaccinated, and the company is offering four hours of payment as a reward. While the payment will not be life-changing, it’s a nice gesture, and it’s more than what we’ve seen at the stage of other travel brands.
Some people may talk along the way whether vaccination should be mandatory for employees or not, but at this stage the conversation does not seem constructive, as the vaccines are not even available to everyone at this stage, we do not know how the situation months after will seem, and because that discussion necessarily becomes completely too political.
What do you make of Marriott’s vaccination incentive?