Employers Who Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines Must Be Prepared To Exempt Employees With Disabilities, Religious Objections, EEOC Says
- December 17, 2020
Reuters (12/16, Wiessner) reports, “The U.S. agency that enforces workplace discrimination laws said on Wednesday that employers who choose to require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 must be prepared to exempt employees with disabilities and religious objections.” The guidance was issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) “on its website after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech.” According to the EEOC, “companies that choose not to have vaccines administered at the workplace can require employees to provide proof that they received a vaccination without violating the Americans with Disabilities Act,” but the law only allows “employers to ask workers why they have refused to be vaccinated if the information is ‘job related and consistent with business necessity,’ the agency said.”