Can you get fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19

COVID-19 cases are currently on the rise in all 50 states. All because of the highly contagious delta strain and the slowdown in vaccination rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70% of US adults have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, but about a third of Americans are still not vaccinated. People do not want to be vaccinated for various reasons, but many are interested in whether they can lose their jobs due to refusal to be vaccinated. The answer to this question was given by the publication CNBC.

Government agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have long made it clear that employers can require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and punish them as they see fit. For example, on August 6, news spread about the dismissal of three CNN employees in the United States. They decided not to vaccinate and came to work in the office. For this, the leadership decided to fire them.

“The EEOC guidelines, published in December 2020, made it clear that employers can demand vaccinations, and that does not fall under the notion of a medical examination, which employers are prohibited from requiring under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said attorney René Matthey Myers.

“The EEOC says employers can require employees to be vaccinated as long as they provide appropriate accommodations for people with disabilities and respect religious beliefs that prohibit vaccinations,” said Sharon Perley Masling, a lawyer at Morgan Lewis. - Most recently, we had two cases in the district courts. Both decided that the employer has the right to demand vaccinations from employees. "

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Yet for many months of the pandemic, most employers refrained from mandating mandatory vaccinations for employees. Now that pressure from public health and economic authorities is mounting, some are starting to impose such requirements.

President Joe Biden announced last week that all civilian federal employees will be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination or face stringent testing measures, social distancing and masking requirements, and travel restrictions.

And companies like Facebook, Uber, Google and Netflix require their employees to be vaccinated to return to their offices.

More employers are demanding vaccinations

“We are definitely seeing a shift towards more employers who are demanding vaccinations from their employees or are considering introducing such a requirement,” Masling said. "And I think this is partly because of the delta strain and how easily the virus is transmitted, and also because of the desire to create the safest workplaces for employees."

“The vaccine demand has helped the business a lot,” says Andrew Hunter, co-founder of job site Adzuna. “I think it’s a matter of confidence for employees returning to work. If the vaccination condition is one of the items that you want to tick off to instill that confidence, I think that's okay. "

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Hunter says vaccines can help employers reduce workers' doubts about returning to offices.

“A recent study found that more than 9 million Americans are refraining from returning to their offices because of concerns about new strains, especially Delta,” he added.

Such dismissal will deprive you of unemployment benefits.

If your company introduced a mandatory vaccination requirement for COVID-19, and you refused to get vaccinated and were fired, then you most likely will not receive unemployment benefits. In most areas of the United States, if you are fired for violating company policy, you are not eligible for unemployment benefits and payments.