The approval by the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) of Pfizer / BioNTech’s vaccine against Covid-19, Monday, August 23, is prompting more and more American companies to make vaccination compulsory for their employees.
If in France the vaccination obligation will come into force only for certain professions from September 15, 2021, in the United States, companies do not hesitate to take the plunge. Thanks to the unconditional authorization of Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine, this decision concerns employees and sometimes even customers.
CVS pharmacies, the Chevron oil company, Disney or the Goldman Sachs bank, all have been out of the woods since the start of the week, requiring all or part of their employees to provide proof that they have been vaccinated.
Since June, and the announcements of the Morgan Stanley bank and the asset manager BlackRock, some large groups had already dared to change their point of view, to move from recommendations to obligations. Google, Facebook, then Uber, had officially banned their premises to employees who do not have a complete vaccination schedule.
US President Joe Biden also spoke last Monday in favor of a broad vaccination of employees in companies. “Do what I did last month: ask your employees to get vaccinated or expose themselves to strict restrictions,” he said. And for good reason, at the end of July the Head of State had thus offered federal public employees the choice between vaccination or the obligation to submit to a heavy health protocol with regular tests.
A decision that is not unanimous
On social networks, Internet users accuse these companies of a profound violation of individual freedoms in a country that has made them a cardinal value. A local elected representative of the Florida lower house, Republican Anthony Sabatini, even introduced a bill to ban this provision.
Other companies have yet to plan to take the plunge. This is the case of American Airlines which “strongly encourages” its employees to receive their injections, but refuses to force them to do so for the moment. The airline, however, is offering an extra day off and $ 50 to those who take action.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told him on Tuesday that his company would impose a health insurance premium of $ 200 per month on unvaccinated employees, to offset “the financial risk posed to the company by the decision to do not get vaccinated ”.
For now, the largest employers in the country, Amazon, Home Depot, FedEx, UPS or Target remain silent on the subject. Even Walmart has imposed vaccination only on employees at its headquarters, not on employees in its stores and warehouses.
The general opinion is that the legal risk associated with a binding measure is however minimal, even if it would lead to dismissal. Indeed, last May, the US federal agency in charge of compliance with laws against discrimination in the workplace (EEOC), indicated that the obligation to present proof of vaccination was not in violation of labor law. American.
“No news” in France
In France, the vaccination obligation will come into force from September 15 for the staff of health establishments or those working with fragile people. To date, more than 83% of caregivers in hospitals or retirement homes are vaccinated, Prime Minister Jean Castex indicated Thursday.
The latter also assured that the introduction of the health pass in all companies “was not topical”.