Now that the federal government is requiring contractors to be vaccinated in order to work on a government contract, how do I ask about someone’s vaccination status without running afoul of HR laws and can we safely not hire for that reason alone?
To read the answer, click here: How to Ask Job Candidates if They Are Vaccinated
Good advice, especially the part about putting it on the application. If the employer allows COVID-19 testing — as an alternative to being vaccinated — they might also want to add a follow-up question to the unvaccinated as to whether or not they are willing to undergo periodic testing for the virus. If those are conditions of employment, there’s no point in wasting time and energy on clearly unqualified candidates.
Putting the question on the application does eliminate dealing with asking the question in any in-person conversation, especially since most applications go through that computer pre-sorting process any way. As for offering the alternative of required COVID-19 testing, that option should only be offered to current employees who have provided correctly obtained proof of a medical issue that prevents them from getting vaccinated., which has been evaluated throughly by the HR department and the testing has to be at the designated certified place (no home tests). Anyone who wants to use the exemptions ( medical or religious) will have to accept the requirements as stated.
I’d probably phrase it more like – are you vaccinated or willing to get vaccinated. Just becasue someone is not currently vaccinated does not mean that they aren’t willing to get vaccinated if that’s what’s required to get a job. Plus it seems to me like that would be important in the spirit of the current laws we have around discrimination.