Covid-19 Vaccine Accommodations–Effects on Employers

Employers who require confirmation of coronavirus vaccination should have strong policies and procedures in place to deal with medical and religious objections. They should also be able to recognize when an accommodation will put the company in a difficult position.

Employers must make reasonable accommodations for workers who object to receiving a COVID-19 immunization due to medical problems or sincerely held religious convictions under federal and state anti-discrimination laws.

 

 

Disability Accommodations

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) continuously updates their guidance on workplace vaccination. The agency stated that the federal anti-discrimination statutes it enforces do not prevent employers from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all employees who physically enter the workplace. When employees decline to get vaccinated for medical or disability reasons, including pregnancy-related difficulties, employers must make reasonable accommodations.

According to the EEOC, an employer’s decision to deny an accommodation request under the ADA must be based on “an individualized assessment of present facts that establish that a specific reasonable accommodation would impose considerable difficulty or expense.” Employers should think about the following things:

• The nature and expense of the requested accommodation
• The impact on the facility’s revenue, expenses, and available resources
• The size of the company, the number of employees, the location of the facilities
• The employer’s field of business, including the employees functions,  as well as the effect of the geographic separation on the accommodation
• The administrative or physical link between the facility and the employer
• The accommodation’s impact on the facility’s operation

 If an employee is unable to receive coronavirus vaccination due to a disability, the employer should engage in a dialogue to see if a reasonable accommodation may be made.

 One of the first stages in exploring reasonable accommodations is to obtain information from the employee’s medical practitioner concerning the employee’s need for an accommodation and the estimated time of the accommodation. There are several accommodations that can be made for workers who can not be vaccinated, these include; working remotely, wearing a mask, physical distancing, allowing employees to work in a private work environment, receiving weekly covid-19 testing, or transferring the employee to a more suitable position.

According to the EEOC’s online COVID-19 tools, “an employer has the authority to choose among effective accommodations.” “If a requested accommodation would cause undue hardship, the employer must provide an alternative if one is available without causing undue hardship.”

Employers and employees should use the Job Accommodation Network website as a reference for different types of accommodations, according to the agency.

 

Religious Accommodations

Unless an accommodation would cause undue hardship for the business, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees and allows for accommodations to be made for employees who refuse to get vaccinated due to a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.

Notably, the ADA’s strict undue-hardship standard—which analyzes whether the alteration would impose “substantial difficulty or expense”—doesn’t apply to Title VII claims for religious accommodations.

In religious accommodation cases, courts have determined that anything more than an insignificant cost can cause undue hardship, and the EEOC underlined in its advice that costs include the danger of spreading the coronavirus and other safety hazards.

According to the EEOC, employers should take into account objective facts such as whether the employee works outdoors or indoors, alone or in a team, or has frequent contact with coworkers, customers, or other business partners.

Employers are facing an uptick of religious accommodation requests, according to Michael Puma, an attorney at Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia.

It has been shown that wearing a mask and getting tested for COVID-19 once or twice a week is the most commonly considered accommodation for not getting vaccinated.  According to the EEOC’s advice, employers can argue that the cost of such testing is more than the minimum acceptable threshold. According to the EEOC, employers must rely on factual information and not speculation. Employers should ensure that the process is interactive and documented to avoid any issues.

 

Consistent Practices

Companies that choose to impose a vaccination mandate must ensure that the rules are applied consistently across the enterprise and any exceptions to the policy or any accommodations should be reviewed and documented to avoid any discrimination. 

 

 

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