Jennifer Barna, Senior Counsel in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management and Litigation practices, in the firm’s Newark office, was quoted in SHRM, in “Employers That Mandate Vaccines Defend Their Policies,” by Allen Smith.
Following is an excerpt:
While most employers are encouraging employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations, some organizations are requiring it. The legal risks of this mandate are emerging, but employers are standing their ground. …
Under guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, employers are allowed to require vaccinations and to ask for proof of the vaccination.
"Certainly, for positions that are safety-sensitive or cannot be done remotely, an employer may, as a practical matter, have no reasonable option other than terminating an employee or not hiring an applicant where that person is refusing to get vaccinated for a nonprotected reason," said Jennifer Barna, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green in Newark, N.J.