California Provides Guidance on Mandated Employee Vaccination

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently released guidelines and information about an important question being asked among employees and employers alike — can a company mandate vaccinations for their workers? The short answer is yes, with exceptions. This has the potential to significantly impact you and your workplace if you are an employee in California. For more information on required vaccination or other employment-related issues, talk to an experienced employment law attorney in your area today.

Mandatory Vaccinations Cannot Discriminate

 If an employer requires vaccinations of their employees, they cannot discriminate against employees based on protected characteristics, such as religion or disability, if they do not receive a vaccine. Furthermore, an employer is not allowed to retaliate against a worker if they do not receive a vaccine because they fall into one of the exceptions for opting out of required vaccinations. Retaliation includes many adverse employment actions, including demotion, poor performance reviews, termination, pay cuts, and more.

Employers Must Reasonably Accommodate Disabilities

An employer must also reasonably accommodate employees with disabilities that render them unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. If a worker objects to required vaccination on this basis, the employer must engage with the employee to find a reasonable accommodation that can include working from home or implementing safeguards that prevent an unvaccinated employee from endangering others in the workplace. Depending on the circumstances, if a reasonable accommodation cannot be made for the worker to perform their essential duties they may be excluded from the workplace.

Employers Must Reasonably Accommodate Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs

The California DFEH also noted that employers must reasonably accommodate employees with sincerely held religious beliefs that would prevent them from receiving a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. However, unlike workers with a disability, an employer cannot segregate an employee from other employees or the public based on a sincerely held religious belief exception unless it is specifically requested by the employee. Reasonable accommodations in this context may involve job restructuring or job reassignment, and if reasonably accommodations cannot be made the employee can be excluded from the workplace.

Requiring Proof and Release of Medical Information

Finally, requesting proof of vaccination from a third-party if vaccinations are not offered through the employer are allowed so long as they exclude certain medical information. This type of proof is not a disability-related inquiry, religious belief inquiry, or considered a medical examination and is therefore allowed. This proof must be kept in a confidential medical record by the employer.

As for what information is allowed, an employer may require proof of vaccination and can ask workers entering the jobsite screening questions for COVID-19. Other medical information may be requested regarding the coronavirus so long as they are job related and consistent with business necessity.

Talk to an Employment Law Attorney

Do you have more questions about required COVID-19 vaccinations for your California workplace? Call or contact an experienced employment law attorney in your area today for answers to this and many other legal questions.