Nathaniel M. Glasser, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was recently quoted in HR Dive, in “3 Tips for Getting a Workforce Through Flu Season,” by Jennifer Carsen.
Following is an excerpt:
If it's a good idea for everyone to get vaccinated, is it a good idea for employers to make vaccinations mandatory?
Not so fast says attorney Nathaniel Glasser, a member of the firm in the Washington, D.C., office of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. Glasser is co-leader of the firm’s Health Employment and Labor strategic industry group.
Mandatory workplace vaccination policies are relatively uncommon outside the healthcare field, he said. Instead, employers are taking steps to encourage and recommend that employees get vaccinated without actively mandating it, Glasser explained.
Employers that do mandate vaccinations "have to be prepared to address any request for accommodation from employees." For example, an employee might voice a religious objection, or might have a disability that prevents them from receiving the vaccine, he said. Glasser noted that there have been a number of enforcement actions by both the EEOC and the DOJ in the last few years along those lines.
