EEOC Covid-19 Update for Employers
On May 28, 2021, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency, issued an updated Covid-19 technical assistance press release addressing questions relating to Covid-19 vaccinations in the employment context.
The key updates from the EEOC are as follows:
- Under Federal EEO laws an employer is allowed to from require all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, so long as employers comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This means that Employers must provide reasonable accommodation to employees allege that they are unable or unwilling to obtain the vaccine due to medical conditions, disability, religious beliefs or other constitutionally protected ground. Failure to provide such accommodation would expose the employer to an employment discrimination lawsuit.
- Federal EEO laws do not prevent or limit employers from offering incentives to employees to voluntarily provide documentation or other confirmation of vaccination obtained from a third party in the community, such as a pharmacy, personal health care provider, or public clinic. In the event that employers choose to obtain vaccination information from their employees, employers must treat vaccination information as confidential medical information.
- In the case of employers that are administering vaccines to their employees themselves, they are able to offer incentives for employees to be vaccinated, so long as the incentives are not coercive in nature. Employers must keep in mind that because vaccinations require employees to answer pre-vaccination disability-related screening questions, a very large incentive for obtaining the vaccine could make employees feel pressured to disclose protected medical information that would invoke a disability related inquiry and subject the employer to the standards required by the ADA.
It is important to remember that state and local laws and ordinances may impose different restrictions that may differ to the federal regulations on these matters. As such, a business must always make sure they are in compliance with state and local county laws and ordinances prior to instituting any changes in their workplace policies.
