Mandating employees flu shots will land you in a legal mess unless you have the right Federal and state requirements in place.
Requiring your staff to receive an infleunza vaccination absolutely reduces illness and absenteeism and protects your patients. And many of your employees will willingly get a flu shot this fall; some may refuse. Respond the wrong way, and the result can be devasting for your practice. require flu shots.
Take these actions to ensure your employee immunization policies stand up to regulatory scrutiny – and don’t violate national and local laws. require flu shots.
1.Make Anti-Discrimination Allowances
You can’t mandate vaccines. You must give your employees exemptions, or you’ll violate the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These employee laws prohibit you from discriminating against your employees for their disabilities and religious beliefs, based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 respectively.
Your policies and process must accept exemption requests from employees on the basis of:
- Religious beliefs. If your employee’s religion prohibits him from receiving a vaccination, you forcing the issue could result in a discrimination lawsuit.
- Medical conditions or disabilities. If your employee has a medical condition or a disability that makes getting a flu shot a health hazard such as an egg allergy, you should be prepared to accept a medical exemption for the flu shot.
You can require an employee to provide documentation supporting their exemption request such as a note from a clergy member or a physician.
2. Provide a Reasonable Accommodation
The ADA and Title VII require that you provide a reasonable accommodation — a change in the work environment — so employees seeking exemptions can continue to do their jobs.
Some reasonable accommodations for flu shot exemptions include:
- Mandate masks. If you aren’t already requiring that the employee who requests a flu shot exemption wear a face coverings to prevent contraction and spread of COVID-19, you could require the staff member to wear a mask at work during flu season.
- Allow telework. Another avenue you might already be utilizing due to the pandemic, if the employee’s job can be done off site, consider allowing him or her to work from home until the end of the flu season.
- Change duties. Consider shifting the employee’s duties to a position that doesn’t require patient contact until the end of flu season.
- Offer an egg-free alternative. There are flu vaccines that don’t contain egg, so if you have employees with egg allergies, you could find a way to offer them an egg-free alternative.
Can you refuse an accommodation? If the accommodation suggested will pose an “undue hardship” on your practice such as a significant difficulty or expense — taking into account the accommodation’s cost and your available resources — then no, you do not have to provide that particular accommodation. But you must seek out a different accommodation that won’t pose an undue hardship.
3. Adhere to State
During a pandemic, you must also rely on the latest public health guidelines, as well as local regulations.
- CDC. The CDC’s position is that a flu shot is more important than ever this year to protect you, your staff, and your patients from the virus, and to reduce the burden on the healthcare system which is responding simultaneously to COVID-19.
- State law. Vaccination laws vary by state, so before you attempt to enforce a policy at your practice, look up your state’s vaccination law here.
