Should You Have a Vaccination Policy?
Are you over COVID-19 yet? Yeah, I think we all are. Unfortunately, it’s not over yet and a few weeks ago, Joe Biden put us all on edge when he announced that he would be asking OSHA to develop standards requiring all employers with 100+ employees to establish a vaccine or testing requirement. It seems like this announcement left us all thinking about what we should do in our businesses, regardless of size.
To help you out, I’ve compiled a list of 5 questions to ask yourself before you decide to implement a vaccine policy (or not).
1. Am I bound by any local, state or federal requirements?
This should make it easy for you – if you are, you don’t really have a choice, right? We’ll take it one step further here – think about the businesses around you and whether you believe that it will be in your best interest to follow suit OR go against their requirements.
2. How many employees do I have? What are their vaccination statuses?
If you have a small workforce, you may not need to implement a vaccination policy, but rather encourage your employees to get vaccinated or practice mitigation techniques while at work. Larger workplaces will have more to consider, including how their employees work together and how many are regularly in close contact. The number of employees you have will help you determine a few other factors we’ll discuss next, too. If most of your employees are already vaccinated, it may be relatively easy to implement a policy for your workplace.
3. What does this cost me?
Cost is a major factor to consider when implementing a vaccine policy, especially because many states and localities often require employers to pay for any required testing or treatment. You’ll want to think about how much it will cost to regularly test your employees, the cost of paid time off for illness and vaccine side effects, and the cost of turnover if you fail to meet your employers’ expectations.
4. Have I evaluated any/all remote work options?
If you implement a vaccination policy, you’ll also want to consider other options for your employees – to help avoid any turnover from your policy. Can you provide any options for your employees to work remotely? What will you do if you can’t?
5. How will I implement it?
This is probably the most important factor – you can do all the planning in the world, but if you implement your policy poorly, it will never work. Determine who will write your policy – I always recommend an expert for this, but you can also find templates online and then approve with your attorney. After you’ve finished writing it decide how you’ll distribute it so all your employees know exactly what the policy is when it goes into effect and what the repercussions are if they choose to not follow it.
COVID-19 has complicated our world for almost 2 years and we’re all doing our best to try and navigate this successfully. Politics aside – the most important thing for you to do is what’s best for you and your team. I hope you use this guide to implement something that works for you and keeps you, your team, and customers safe, healthy, and prospering.
As always, don’t forget to have grace – we’re all going through it.
