“It puts you at risk of alienating the staff, if not losing them to a competitor,” said Smith, who has run the family-owned Best of Care since 2013. “No one can afford to do that. That is why any employer in our industry is so reluctant to impose a mandate.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has given guidance to employers that they have the right to impose a vaccine mandate as long as there are exceptions for employees with health conditions that pose a risk or legitimate religious objections.
Yet “employers in a labor shortage environment don’t want to create any barrier for employment, let alone any cause for people to go elsewhere,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist for job site Ziprecruiter.
It’s not clear how many employers are taking that step. A June survey from the Society of Human Resource Management showed 29% of workers say their employers are requiring vaccines. A Gartner survey from the end of July found only 9% doing so.
Even among hospitals, most employers don’t have vaccine mandates: The American Hospital Association said only 2,100 hospitals, about a third of the nation’s total, require vaccines. And many are in places where state laws or executive orders mandate them.
For the many small businesses and other employers who depend on hourly workers to fill most positions, there’s greater fear about losing vaccine-hesitant employees and not being able to find vaccinated workers to replace them.
“If you run a restaurant or a store and you have employees who are vaccine-hesitant, they are going to quit and go to the store or restaurant next door,” said Kropp. “It’s a whole lot easier for people to switch jobs, particularly in today’s labor market.”
‘Divisive’ moral arguments and partial rules
Further complicating matters is opposition to mandates, even from employees who have gotten vaccinated themselves. The KFF survey in June found that even among those who are vaccinated, 42% said they don’t want it mandated by their employer, while only 43% want a vaccine required.
“In general we find that vaccine mandates are very divisive,” said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at KFF. “There’s a sense that getting a vaccine is personal choice.”
Seven states — Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Tennessee — have passed laws banning vaccine mandates for at least some employers, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. Similar legislation has been introduced in 39 other states, all but Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and West Virginia.
Neither company would comment on whether the labor crunch for hourly workers is the driving force of the different rules.
“Those office environments are very different than our operating facilities, which have been safely staffed in-person since the beginning and throughout the pandemic,” said a statement from UPS.
“That’s probably what we’ll see more of than full vaccine mandates,” she said.
A plea to government leaders
Smith, the CEO of the home health care agency in Massachusetts, wants more than just a model from the government: He would prefer a mandate at the state or federal level to require everyone in his industry to get vaccinated. It would level the playing field among all employers in the sector, he explained, and would help protect the health of his employees and clients.
“From a pure safety standpoint, it would make me feel better if it were required,” he said. “And it would take the pressure off me.”
Smith’s wish is hardly unique, Kropp said.
Many other employers are worried unvaccinated workers could spread the virus even to inoculated coworkers and cause high absenteeism. And some workers, especially those with young children at home or other vulnerable family members, won’t want to return to the office unless they know everyone else is vaccinated, he said.
“What almost every employer wants is either the governors or some other government body to say vaccines are required,” Kropp said. “Then they get what they want, and they don’t get any of the blame or frustration.”
Source : CNN