Considerations For Employers Mandating COVID-19 Vaccination

With two FDA emergency-use vaccines being distributed and one more on the way, employers are looking forward to reopening their offices – but there’s also a new challenge for employers to consider…whether or not to require employee vaccinations.

The Local Government Insurance Trust (LGIT) offered a white paper to its members today through the LGIT HR Compliance Solution portal. The document, entitled “Considerations For Employers Mandating COVID-19 Vaccination,” puts forth some important factors and valuable information around this issue.

Topics include:

  • EEOC’s updated guidelines – and its surprise allowance for employers to mandate vaccinations (with exemptions)
  • Justification of the EEOC’s current pandemic position and the definition of “direct threat”
  • Discussion on whether a vaccination policy would pass a legal challenge in court
  • Exemptions covered
  • Difference between a vaccination and a medical examination
  • The importance of pre-screening questions being job-related
  • Proof of receipt and ADA compliance
  • Termination for refusal
  • 10 best practices for employers

LGIT members can log in to the portal to read the full document or contact Michele Keplinger for more details (including log-in credentials).

The LGIT HR Compliance Portal includes info on their Employment Law Hotline as well as many other valuable resources, i.e. Handbook Builder, State & Federal Posters, current HR issues, Cyber Training and much more.

LGIT was founded by the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) and the Maryland Municipal League (MML) in answer to difficulties towns, cities and counties then faced in securing affordable insurance.

LGIT is a member-owned association authorized by state law, wholly owned and managed by its local government members. The Trust’s main purpose is to provide joint self-insurance programs or pools for towns, cities and counties in the State of Maryland. The concept is simple – rather than paying premiums to buy insurance from an insurance company, local governments contribute those premiums into a jointly owned fund. The money in that fund is used to pay for the members’ claims, losses and expenses.