With the increased incidence of the Delta variant, a major topic of discussion recently surrounds the rights of employers and employees when it comes to vaccinations.
Attorney Sam Spurney with Steimle Birschbach LLC said on an episode of Just The Facts with John Foster that federal law states you can require all in-person employees to be vaccinated. But, Spurney explains it comes with two very important caveats.
“There is an exception for sincerely held religious beliefs and exceptions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And as you can imagine there’s a lot of gray area. It’s a very fact-sensitive consideration as to whether it applies or not. You don’t want to go to litigation with your employee, that’s just not a great way to run your business.”
Even if employers can mandate vaccinations, he was asked “should they?”
“That’s exactly right and there’s enforcement issues. If you require it, there’s another decision to be made. Do you have your employees get vaccinated on-site at your business or do you just ask them to provide you with proof they were vaccinated?”
Sam Spurney added, “There are pros and cons to both approaches.” The local attorney works with business owners every day in his practice.
