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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s demand for federal workers to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status is likely to spark uncomfortable questions not only in government agencies but also in private companies.
At present, there is a lack of clear answers.
Developing the right policy will take time and will vary among government agencies. The same goes for private companies, for which the White House tries to provide a guide. It’s not like there’s a cheat sheet. Nothing on this scale has been attempted before in the face of a virus transforming in real time to become a greater threat.
“We developed a miracle vaccine in a very short period of time, and government and business were very reluctant to take a top-down approach,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of workforce consulting firm Challenger . , Gray & Christmas. “Now we have reached a point where it has become very clear that the individual push of people to protect themselves has not been strong enough to protect the country, and we see the government taking that first step.”
Biden’s plan for the federal workforce, announced Thursday, came to a halt before a direct order for the federal government to roll up its sleeves.
Instead, workers will need to certify if they are vaccinated. Although employees are not required to produce a vaccination card, “attestation” is a loaded word in the federal workplace, carefully governed by rules and regulations. This has consequences for the provision of false or misleading information. It is not yet clear how this will be enforced, but employees who voluntarily provide valid proof of vaccination will likely address potential issues in advance.
Those not vaccinated will have to undergo regular testing, required masking and social distancing, and they will be banned from official travel. Similar rules will apply to federal contractors.
Continuous testing raises other issues. For most people, health insurance has paid off. But will this continue if someone refuses to be vaccinated and is not eligible for medical or religious exemptions?
Masking has always been a delicate subject. But how will agencies enforce a masking policy if not everyone is required to be vaccinated? Will supervisors patrol cabins with lists of unvaccinated people?
There are many reasons why translating Biden’s Order in the workplace may not go smoothly. Government agencies tend to have their own unique cultures and their missions run the gamut. Doctors at the National Institutes of Health are likely already vaccinated, but some law enforcement officials may be reluctant to be vaccinated not yet fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The largest union representing federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees, has previously notified that it expects any changes to working conditions to be “properly negotiated with our bargaining units prior to implementation.” .
As for the Pentagon, it has been ordered to study how and when COVID-19 vaccines will become mandatory for military personnel. The military must already receive up to 17 vaccines, depending on where they are based in the world.
Even as Biden presented his federal plan, some companies like Google were already ahead, saying they would simply demand the vaccination. But the United States Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest trade organization, backed Biden’s actions as “prudent steps to protect public health and our economic recovery.”
For public or private employees, the first and most important questions revolve around proof of their immunization status and whether they can qualify for exceptions, said Jeff Hyman, trade author and recruiting expert.
“Will they believe it?” Hyman asked. There is no central database that records vaccinations.
“What is the exception policy? ” He continued. “There must be exceptions for religious and medical reasons, and that asterisk is going to be really important.”
But if workers ask for a religious exemption, will they have to submit a note from a member of the clergy?
The Federal Commission for Equal Employment Opportunities states that an employer must provide “reasonable accommodation” for medical or religious reasons “which does not pose undue hardship for the operation of the business of the employer “.
But companies can legally require vaccination as a “condition of employment,” the Justice Department said in a recent notice.
Biden is taking a risk here, Hyman said, but doing nothing in the face of the increase in cases driven by the aggressive delta variant was not an option.
“It’s very easy to guess because you only find out in hindsight if you were right,” Hyman said. “We’re not going to know for a while if that was the optimal decision, but at least he’s doing something.”
The news that the economy has outgrown its pre-pandemic size only underscores the importance of Biden’s decision. More epidemics and closures could dampen hiring and production, creating a new political narrative for Republicans trying to regain control of Congress next year.
Then there is the often delicate issue of workplace etiquette. How will unvaccinated employees interact with their peers who have been vaccinated? Will the work units have to be separated?
Challenger, the workforce consultant, said his company has developed a system for everyone to discreetly report their comfort level with interaction when re-entering the workplace. These are colored bracelets in green, yellow and red.
Green means that a person is comfortable with things going back to how they were before. Red signals others to stay 6 feet away. Yellow is a middle zone, which implies some hesitation about humor.
“It’s such a new situation that there aren’t a lot of good practices to follow,” he said.
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