Unvaccinated United Airlines employees with religious exemptions will be placed on temporary leave without pay

Any United Airlines employee who has received a religious exemption to be vaccinated against the coronavirus will be placed on temporary, unpaid personal leave from October.

The policy, which takes effect Oct. 2, will remain in place until “specific safety measures for unvaccinated employees are instituted,” said Kirk Limacher, United’s vice president of human resources, in a note. to employees.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

This applies to roles in contact with customers such as pilots, flight attendants and customer service agents, according to the memo.

“There are nearly 100,000 people in the hospital, and on average 1,500 people die from COVID every day,” Limacher said. “All of these statistics apply almost exclusively to the unvaccinated.”

“Given the dire statistics listed above, we can no longer allow unvaccinated people to return to the workplace until we have a better understanding of how they might interact with our clients and their vaccinated colleagues,” added Lose it.

In the note, Limacher raised concerns about “the sharp increase in COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths” among unvaccinated people.

UNITED AIRLINES REQUIRING ALL EMPLOYEES TO BE IMMUNIZED

According to the airline, the seven-day average of daily deaths from COVID is the highest since March and infections have increased by 20%, with new cases emerging across the country.

United Airlines employees work at the counters in Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on October 14, 2020. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh, File / AP Newsroom)

Employees on temporary leave will be able to work once new testing and safety procedures are in place, according to the memo. The airline plans to notify affected employees of their return date by mid-October, although their “official return to work date may be much later.”

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS

Employees who are immediately denied a religious exemption will be required to be vaccinated within five weeks of the denial or they must receive their first vaccine by September 27. If they don’t, they will be “separated from the business,” according to the memo.

“Considering the large number of people who work and travel on our farm on a daily basis, we must do everything possible to ensure their safety,” said Limacher. “As we said when we introduced our vaccination policy, everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”

Earlier last month, the airline announced that all U.S.-based employees must be vaccinated by October 25, or face layoff.