The White House is trying to juice America’s vaccination rate.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration highlighted a paid-leave provision in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which was passed on March 11. The IRS, also on Wednesday, codified the tax credit, which broadly offsets the cost for employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide full pay for any time their employees need to get a COVID-19 vaccination or recover from that vaccination.
In the briefing, the Biden administration urged businesses to act. “Now is the time to step up our efforts to reach every working-age adult in America.”
For the remaining details, click here: Give PTO for Covid Vaccines and Get up to $5,110 in Tax Credits Per Employee
These reports are a little misleading in that this is a subsection of EPSL, so you cannot elect just to give the credit for someone getting the vaccine and the potential side effects. You have to essentially re-elect the FFCRA 10 day provision. You cannot have one without the other and frankly some places can’t afford to offer an additional 10 days to everyone for potential COVID exposures, etc. especially when, as is common with any “program”, there are people who feel like they are entitled to the time and will take it whether they have a valid reason or not.
In the article, there is mention of the “We Can Do This” campaign and how it encourages discounts, promos, giveaways, rewards, etc. So many things come to mind that concern me with this campaign.
First, how will the store/business know whether someone is vaccinated? Will they have to show their vaccination card? If so, does that give the expectation that your vaccination card is now equal to a driver’s license/state id? Or, will a list or database be made available? Which then sends up red flags of HIPAA. When you choose to be vaccinated, is there a box you have to check that gives permission to share your medical information? Is it in the fine print that your information will be shared?
Second, what about the potential of discrimination? For those who fall under exemption protections based on medical conditions or religious beliefs, will these perks be made available to them as well? Is there a vaccination exempt card for exempt individuals? Who makes the determination on medical/religious exemption?
Just my thoughts and concerns ….
The employer makes the ultimate decision as to whether or not they can reasonably accommodate an employee claiming an inability to be vaccinated due to disability or religion. There are very few disabilities that preclude getting vaccinated, but — in the rare case of such a disability — an employer subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is required to reasonably accommodate an employee if that would allow the employee to perform the essential functions of their position and the accommodation does not impose an undue hardship, which is a substantial burden. In religious accommodation cases, the burden on the employer is much lighter. In religion cases, an accommodation is not required if it imposes more than a de minimus hardship on the employer.
Absolutely agree and understand that the employer makes the ultimate decision, as it pertains to their employees. I’m curious about situations in which either an employer does not have to make that decision because they are not mandating the vaccine and/or individuals who are independent contractors or not employed.
If a business is participating in the campaign, the focus is on the customers and not the employees. The business would not be the ones deciding religious or medical exemption. So I return to my pondering of how or what would a business do to know or decide who is eligible for the perks, discounts, etc. If a customer voluntarily shows their vaccine card, then that is solely on the customer. Is there equal documentation available to those who are not vaccinated/exempt?
Then the business must also decide if they will provide the same perks to those who are exempt. If they choose not to, then are they opening themselves up for discrimination suits?
As HR professionals, we are well versed on compliance within the workplace. Since we have that knowledge, we can also put ourselves in the shoes of a customer and be able to ask these type of questions.
This is an issue of 501 accessibility. Businesses are required to make accommodations for customers who — due to a disability — are not able to access them in the usual way. For WalMart, for example, one accommodation is allowing those customers to shop online and do the curbside, socially-distanced, touchless, pick-up. Each business and situation is unique, so the accommodations will vary.
Anyone who isn’t getting vaccinated because of medical reasons should get documentation from their doctors. I know this because my daughter may fall into this area of not being vaccinated unless her doctor has approved her medically for a certain vaccine. He has okayed her for the flu shot which gives her some protection but her doctor feels that she may have issues in the side effects responses. She follows all safety precautions at work until she gets medical approval. But what this article is addressing is the blatant anti-vaccination attitude with no medical reason. This is a public health issue not a discussion of the right to choose. Therefore that person will need to choose to get the vaccine to keep the job or no job.
As for this tax credit, it is an assumption by the federal government that “normal back in a workplace” will occur after September 2021, based on the number of vaccines being given. Of course, some people may have not gotten appointments yet. I just completed getting the two shots of the Phizer shots after struggling to get an appointment for three months. My son is scheduled to get his in May. Distributions have been slow, plus there have been delays because of how it was distributed to groups who had numbers who refused to get vaccinated and people who pushed their way to the front of the line so they could resume traveling. At least for my area. about 20% of the population in numbers has gotten at least one shot of the vaccines and half that amount is now fully vaccinated. We have a long way to herd immunity, so employers need to encourage employees to do so, especially in working in person positions.
Why must someone have a medical reason for not wanting to participate in an experiment? You can rationalize it all you want but the facts are this: The “vaccine” has no long term safety data. None. Zero. Zilch. The drug companies have ZERO liability if you are harmed. To say otherwise is being willfully blind to this simple fact. Maybe I don’t want to be a lab rat in this experiment. That’s reason enough. Anti-vaxxer? Um, no. That’s a convenient insult for those that can’t fathom that some of us refuse to be a part of the largest human trial in history. In fact I just got my shingles vax back in the fall. Why? Because it’s got a very solid long term track record and it’s for something that I have a 1 in 3 chance of getting. What’s my chance of getting COVID? Um, about 3% at worst and even if I get it, the chances of anything serious happening are a fraction of that. It’s called a cost/benefit calculation.
Also, the idea that we need a vaccine to be “normal” is nonsense. This could have been handled with simple hygienic measures and protection of the most susceptible. We didn’t need the extreme restrictions that were shoved down our throats. This “pandemic” was never an emergency. The data have proven that but so many persist in this charade. Plus, symptomatic cases have been dropping in most places. It’s a pesky and inconvenient truth that Florida and Texas (among others) are seeing reductions after lifting restrictions. Remember Sweden? Yea, sucks that people in those states and that country aren’t dropping like flies. Really puts a damper on the fabricated hysteria. Quit listening to the cult of Fauci. He is a proven liar and nothing but a useless bureaucrat. The CDC are no different. If you think otherwise, I’ve got a bridge in NY to sell you.
If you want to get injected, that’s your choice but lose the guilt trip, virtue signalling and holier-than-thou garbage. My body, my choice right?
“My body, my choice” is what Typhoid Mary said. No one has the right to — willfully — spread a highly-communicable (and growing more so) potentially deadly disease. The COVID-19 vaccines have had the same clinical trials that every other medication receives, and have been administered to millions with very few side effects. They’re almost completely effective at eliminating serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths. Obviously, we don’t know everything about the vaccines that we will — eventually — know, just as we don’t know everything about the disease. But the cost/benefit analysis weighs — overwhelmingly — in favor of getting vaccinated.
I have to agree with Grannybunny’s response because you, the anti-vax person, are thinking singularly rather than the entire population. No one is denying anyone the right to vaccine or no vaccine, but if you, the anti-vax person don’t, you, the anti-vax person, need to realize that your actions do affect more than just yourself, so you, the anti-vax person, will need to be more pro-active in safety precautions, especially in public settings. You are creating your own problems of limited access. You can’t have both.
Worrying about side effects is a normal reaction, and you should consult with your physician as to your overall physical state, as most if not all doctors have researched enough information about the vaccines, to answer and deal with the patient’s anxiety. They already do that to encourage us to get the yearly flu virus or any needed shots to maintain our wellness. Ignoring what happened in past history when a disease affected the population and the vaccine stopped the disease from spreading is not logical or smart in terms of public health safety. I liken the attitude of not getting the vaccine to the same need to bring a “labeled emotional untrained animal” everywhere you go. That’s just selfish.—Accommodations for a non-vaccinated person may include WFH positions if the type of jobs offered by the company allows it, but there are also many areas of business, that can’t be done effectively as WFH. Individuals who don’t want to vaccinate need to realize that they may need to choose between their personal and financial needs. If you can afford it, good for you.
The big issue, claimed by anti-vax people is the lack of testing but totally forgetting that in today’s technology, we can address issues in faster efficient methods than the previously designed vaccines. so that question is rather a mote point. The major vaccine problem has been effective production in the proper procedure which have to be maintained at the highest standards. That’s why that batch of J&J vaccine had to be destroyed because the laboratory standards were not upheld correctly. As for Sweden, only 6.9% of the population is fully vaccinated, 20.4% have received one dose. 938,343 confirmed cases with 13.923 deaths, as of April 23, 2021, Getting more people vaccinated decreases the severity of the symptoms of Covid-19–deaths and long-term effects. Herd immunity by simply getting Covid-19 is playing a version of Russian roulette with your health, plus you are endangering others. As you said, your body, your choice—but realize what your choice means.