Where Do You Stand on Employer-Mandated Vaccines?

What are your thoughts on companies mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees? Are you open to getting vaccinated? Or are you still waiting for more research to be done on the different options?

The topic of mandated vaccines during the pandemic is extremely controversial within government and the private sector. In addition, there are many legal aspects involved in requiring that employees get vaccinated. Due to the vast amount of uncertainty involved, many people and attorneys believe that mandating vaccines is part of a legal gray area.

Many supporters of mandatory vaccinations speak to the public health benefits of large amounts of people being vaccinated, including reaching herd immunity and less individuals potentially contracting the virus in the workplace. They tend to believe that these aspects outweigh any possible negative outcomes.

Currently, the majority of schools, universities and health care organizations mandate other vaccines already. However, those against mandatory, COVID-19 vaccinations can highlight the fact that these vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process. This EUA is as opposed to the standard process of clinical trials, which can take 6-7 years to complete.

Due to the speed at which COVID-19 vaccinations were produced and approved, some people do not feel comfortable with them.

Attempts to Mandate

Has your employer mentioned anything about encouraging or mandating vaccinations? If so, how has the communication been received by employees? As previously mentioned, the legalities of mandating vaccines can be explored from many different angles.

So far, organizations employing first responders and essential workers have been the primary ones introducing vaccine mandates. It is expected that companies in other industries and fields will eventually begin to share their stances on vaccine mandates. These stipulations will probably take into account whether employees are on site or remote, are in close contact with each other and the general public and if being unvaccinated would pose a threat to the workplace.

Offering Incentives

Since the topic of vaccines is highly controversial at this point, many companies are opting to strongly encourage vaccinations as opposed to mandating them. Mandates of any kind in the workplace can often lead to conflict and decreases in morale and employee engagement. Incentives such as paid time off, gift cards and other benefits have been proposed to employees who get the vaccine.

Are there any specific incentives that would persuade you to get the COVID-19 vaccine if you were unsure about it? Offering certain incentives only to employees who have been vaccinated can also lead to claims of preferential treatment and legal issues.

Personal / Religious Objections

A lot of people have expressed personal and/or religious objections to getting the COVID-19 vaccines available. A myriad of reasons including skepticism about the speed of time to research and assess effects of the vaccine, unknown long-term implications, and beliefs that mandates infringe upon personal rights are some of the most common.

Do you have any objections or concerns about being vaccinated? What’s clear is that everyone’s personal situation is different and can be heavily influenced by their age, overall health, and any preexisting conditions they may have.

Thoughts about potential employer mandates of vaccines have lingered on the minds of many employees and caused stress and anxiety for some people. Some organizations have begun rolling out policies to mandate COVID-19 vaccines.

While many employees have already complied with those rules, some employees haven’t and there are pending cases to challenge if such mandates are legal. A large amount of companies have decided to incentivize their teams to get vaccinated with paid time off and other benefits. Globally, we are in uncharted territories with a wide-spread pandemic and innovative pharmaceutical research. Where do you stand on employer-mandated vaccines?

Porschia Parker-Griffin is a Certified Coach, Professional Resume Writer, and Founder of Fly High Coaching. (https://www.fly-highcoaching.com) She empowers ambitious professionals and motivated executives to add $10K on average to their salaries.