What to Consider When Implementing Vaccine Mandates
With imminent vaccine mandates from the federal government arriving, businesses are considering implementation policies. While the timeframes are unclear, employers should adopt strategies and tools for managing and tracking vaccination records.
Vendors are introducing reliable tools like the BP Logix vaccine tracker app for enterprises. Adopting such tools will ease the burden on HR departments and ensure compliance.
What Is the Vaccine Mandate?
The U.S. government has directed the Department of Labor to develop rules requiring businesses with more than 100 workers to mandate employees to be vaccinated or be subject to weekly testing. The mandate also expects employers to give employees paid leave to get the vaccine and recover from any side effects. Any company that violates the regulation could face fines and penalties of $14,000 per violation.
Evaluate the Risks of Workplace Spread
Initially, COVID outbreaks were associated with social venues rather than workplaces, but some workplaces have had serious outbreaks. Eemployers and business owners are responsible for ensuring safe workplaces and protecting customers.
Most employers are likely to adopt the mandate once they understand how it can protect vulnerable persons or foster public health benefits. Even when the risk of outbreaks is low, the mandate can boost customer and employee perception of safety.
Employers can implement the vaccination mandate to protect high-risk employees and avoid illness and quarantines. However, the vaccine mandate is less compelling to employers with remote employees who rarely have contact with customers.
Consider Mandate Impacts On Talent
Employers are concerned that workers who object to the mandate are likely to take advantage of the tight job market and switch employers. However, it’s best for employers to consider the unique conditions in their sector. For instance, some industries such as nursing homes are likely to adopt the mandate quickly. As such, employees in such industries are unlikely to switch employers.
Workers who are concerned about exposure to COVID are likely to take a new onsite job once they’re assured of high vaccination rates in the workplace. In fact, surveys show that most employees embrace vaccination mandates to enhance workplace safety.
Develop Policies and Procedures for Easy Implementation
Any employee who mandates vaccination must have clear implementation policies and procedures. For instance, you should be clear about which workers are subject to the mandate, acceptable vaccinations, and recognized vaccination proof.
Some regulations require employees to allow workers to skip vaccination on religious or medical grounds, but the same regulation gives employers the right to terminate employees on the same grounds. However, employers can ask such employees to take regular tests to ensure workplace safety.
Multiple vendors are rolling out enterprise vaccination tracking tools to simplify the process for businesses. Innovative tools like the BP Logix vaccine tracker app are unsophisticated, and they ease the HR’s burden of manually keeping records and tracking who is vaccinated and who is not.
Endnote
With new COVID-19 variants emerging, having more employees vaccinated reduces the risk of workplace exposure. As a result, the government and employers are seeking to push unvaccinated employees to get the jab. Besides protecting vulnerable workers and customers, high employee vaccination will curb disruptions from COVID illnesses.
