Responding to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate

From MG+M The Law Firm.

President Biden’s September 9, 2021 announcement requiring all businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate their workers receive the COVID-19 is not going unchallenged by many business owners and employees. The mandate will impact over 80 million private sector workers in countless industries across the United States. As such, multiple organizations, businesses, and associations have offered statements opposing the forthcoming requirement.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA), for instance, issued a statement the day after the president’s announcement. ATA President and CEO Chris Spear stated:

ATA, its members and our drivers remain committed to delivering life-saving COVID vaccines, but these proposed requirements – however well-intentioned – threaten to cause further disruptions throughout the supply chain, impeding our nation’s COVID response efforts and putting the brakes on any economic revival.

A poll conducted by CDL Life demonstrates significant objections to the mandate by truck drivers. Based on the poll’s 2,200 respondents, 26.0% would rather be fired than get the vaccine; 10.3% stated that they would quit if the mandate applied to them; and 7.1% stated that they would look for a job at a company with less than 100 employees. Only 2.5% said that the mandate will cause them to get the vaccine.

Spear’s response and many like his, highlight shared concerns between businesses and organizations over the requirement. Businesses question how they will enforce the mandate without suffering profit losses. They also highlight the problem of maintaining supply chain integrity with workers taking time off to receive their vaccines. Specifically, for truck drivers, they ask how will the supply chain be disrupted if truckers take time off to get the vaccine or must complete weekly testing?

According to the ATA, in 2019, truckers hauled 72.5% of all freight transported in the United States. As the president’s mandate comes to be applied, employers should take into consideration the potential outcomes of the mandate. The supply chain and work continuity could be affected by multiple factors. First, employees may resign or force their termination due to resisting both the vaccination and weekly testing. Second, individuals who receive their vaccination will take time off to receive their vaccines. If an individual has an adverse reaction to the vaccine, they may be unable to work for more than the originally requested time off. Lastly, if an employee requests to opt into weekly testing, they should work with their employer to schedule the tests and have the results prior to starting their workday. However, these individuals also would be more susceptible to developing COVID-19 and having a worse reaction to the virus rather than if they were vaccinated. This is on top of the fact that if employers do not act and comply with the mandate, they could face penalties of $14,000 per violation.

All of these factors can impede the trucking industry and the nation’s supply lines by limiting the number of workers that can continue to help the nation’s economic recovery, further debilitating the supply chain and the nation’s COVID response. Accordingly, it is imperative that both carriers and their employees calculate the costs and benefits when responding to the vaccine mandate to include a full and frank assessment of the financial, legal, and human resource dynamics of their responsive policies to federal vaccine requirements.