Can My Employer Force Me to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

In a word, yes.

"Employers have an obligation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to provide a workplace 'free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm' to employees," says Eve Klein, partner and chairperson of the Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group at Philadelphia-based law firm Duane Morris LLP. "As COVID-19 can cause death or serious injury, one of the best ways employers can stop the spread of the virus and protect employees, as well as clients and others they may service, is to require employees to be vaccinated."

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hasn't formally encouraged employers to require workers be vaccinated. But on June 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor issued updated COVID-19 guidance that echoed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's position that non-health care employers may safely allow vaccinated workers to return to normal in workplace conditions, sans face masks and social distancing. But COVID-19 precautions must remain in place for unvaccinated workers. No vaccine mandates or recommendations were mentioned.

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) took a stronger position. On May 28, 2021, the federal agency charged with administering and enforcing civil rights against workplace discrimination issued a statement saying it had updated and expanded its technical assistance related to the COVID-19 pandemic to include COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The new guidance from EEOC says that employers can legally require employees get a COVID-19 vaccine before they re-enter a physical workplace if they follow requirements to provide alternative arrangements for employees who are either unable to get vaccinated due to medical reasons or have religious objections.

Employers can also offer incentives to employees who voluntarily confirm their vaccination status, though the EEOC said the gifts shouldn't be so great that employees feel pressured to do so.

One of the strongest voices behind vaccine mandates came July 26, 2021, when the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued an opinion (dated July 6, 2021) stating that the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) status of COVID-19 vaccinations does not prevent public and private entities from imposing vaccine requirements.

That's not to say other federal, state, or local laws or regulations could stand in the way of an employer mandating vaccines or adopting any vaccine policy. But the OLC is considered the final word within the federal government when it comes to legal issues and, as such, its opinions carry significant weight with judges.

Some opposition about the vaccine mandate is due to the approval status of the currently available vaccines. All three vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen — were approved under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). This designation enables the agency to accelerate review of medical countermeasures, such as vaccines, and make them available during public health emergencies.

To date, no COVID-19 vaccines have received full FDA approval because to do so requires more time and data. All three vaccine makers have submitted, or are expected to submit, applications for full FDA approval. The FDA's official nod should come in the next several months, according to the journal Science, which is a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

At least one lawsuit filed by employees pushing back against an employer's vaccine mandate has fallen flat.

Houston Methodist hospital in Texas set a June 7, 2021, deadline for all 26,000 employees at its eight hospitals be vaccinated or risk suspension or termination. When the deadline came and went, the hospital system temporarily suspended more than 175 staffers without pay. A group of 117 employees filed a lawsuit against Houston Medical for "illegally requiring its employees be injected with an experimental vaccine as a condition of employment." The lawsuit accused the hospital of "forcing its employees to be human 'guinea pigs' as a condition for continued employment."

But a Texas judge ultimately sided with the hospital and tossed the lawsuit. "Methodist is trying to do their business of saving lives without giving them the COVID-19 virus," U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes wrote in a five-page decision. "It is a choice made to keep staff, patients and their families safe."

Regarding Jennifer Bridges, a nurse at Houston Methodist and the lead plaintiff in the case who claims she was fired for refusing the vaccine, Judge Hughes wrote, "Bridges can freely choose to accept or refuse a COVID-19 vaccine; however, if she refuses, she will simply need to work somewhere else."

Klein says the only exceptions to employer vaccination mandates employees may rely on, other than working elsewhere, include:

The list of agencies and corporations to hand down vaccine mandates is growing by the day:

As a way of side-stepping a vaccine mandate, some companies are dangling incentives to employees who demonstrate proof of vaccination such as cash bonuses, paid time off or other rewards.