Tag: Policies

Sample COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

In anticipation of the webinar, here is a sample mandatory vaccination policy:

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

As many of you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on our business and our ability to work with our customers.  We are taking the step to mandate vaccination to best protect employees and their families unless a need for a reasonable accommodation is appropriate.

This policy requires three things:

  1. All employees must notify HR of their vaccination status by December 5, 2021.
  2. Unless a reasonable accommodation is appropriate, all employees must receive
    1. One dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by January 4, 2022; or
    1. Both doses of the Pzifer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine by January 4, 2022.
  3. All vaccinated (including partial vaccinated) employees must provide a copy of their vaccination card to HR. You may upload this to XYZ or present their card to HR for photocopying.

Employees may receive up to four hours of additional paid time off to obtain their vaccine dose(s).  Employees must work with their managers to both account for scheduling their doses and accounting for time.

Employees who seek a request a reasonable accommodation on the basis of disability (including health-related exclusions or delay in vaccination) or sincerely held belief must do so by contacting HR by December 5, 2021. Employees will be asked to provide information sufficient to describe the employee’s need for an accommodation.  Providing false or inconsistent information may result in a denial of an employee’s request. 

Available accommodations could include unpaid leave or frequent COVID testing.  If testing is the accommodation, employees will be required to provide proctored tests through BionaxNOW at least weekly.  Any employee who tests positive will not be permitted to work unless they have met the requirements to return to work per the Centers for Disease Control.  Employees may use accrued paid time off during this time, but no additional paid time off will be provided.  Also, employees who receive a reasonable accommodation will be required to wear a face covering while in shared workspaces.

Employees who are not vaccinated by January 4, 2022 and have not been granted a reasonable accommodation will be disciplined and prohibited from working.  Termination will likely result if an employee continues to refuse to be vaccinated.

All new employees must provide proof of vaccination or request a reasonable accommodation prior to their start date.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact HR.

Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

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HR’s Response to Racism In Viral Form

Social media is one helluva thing.  It can rapidly spread information (both fact and lie), keep us connected to friends and family around the world, and put a glaring spotlight on our abhorrent behavior.  Like Amy Cooper’s.

If you missed Monday evening’s social media, Christian Cooper, a black man, was out watching birds in New York’s Central Park when he saw Amy Cooper, a white woman, out with her unleashed, rescued Cocker Spaniel.  Christian (because there are too many Coopers in this story to keep everyone straight) asked Amy to leash her dog per the Park’s rules and the many signs posted near the area.  What happened next is subject to this video and represents a potentially lethal cocktail of lies, threats, racism, white privilege, and police involvement.

Within just a few hours, Amy was identified as a Vice President for Franklin Templeton, an investment firm, and placed on administrative leave.  She turned her dog over to the rescue shelter where she got him.  Not surprisingly, the video went viral while #AmyCooper and #FireHer trended in tandem.  And, perhaps surprisingly, Franklin Templeton’s website appeared to crash.

Imagine for a minute that you’re in HR for the organization Amy works for.  What do you recommend? 

Put her on administrative leave? Absolutely, leave is exactly the right thing to do immediately, especially on a holiday.  Leave buys everyone some time to cautiously go through what happened and prepare next steps.

Investigate?  Investigate this particular incident?  No. The video is pretty clear, and she’s admitted her conduct.  A decision can be made right now.  However, should you investigate whether Amy’s behavior has impacted employees in the organization.  No doubt about it.  You have to.  Because Amy appears to have supervisory authority, her attitudes towards race may have impacted decisions she has made involving performance reviews, hiring, firing, training, etc.  Going through those decisions is going to be a must.  Not only will the video be Exhibit A in any discrimination case brought against Franklin Templeton that involves Amy, it will also impact the employees she supervises and works with.  Some may believe that the racism she displayed in the video affected her decisions and will want to know from you that you’re taking it seriously while determining if it actually has.

Talk with employees?  Absolutely.  This incident is going to affect your workplace.  Black and brown employees are going to be particularly affected and will be paying close attention to how the organization responds.  Let’s assume the organization wants to be antiracist.  A message from the CEO must happen and happen quickly.  Open forums (even over video) should take place so you can hear from employees, and employees should be encouraged to bring up concerns in any format they choose.  Amy’s managers (and potentially every manager) should hold meetings with staff talking about the organization’s commitment to being antiracist.  You can casually check-in with other staff too, touching base with them. Check-in especially with staff who you believe would participate in a forum if it was held in-person but who don’t appear at the virtual forum.

Remind employees about your policies?  You betcha!  You’re going to remind employees about your harassment and discrimination policies (which no doubt would cover the kind of conduct in the video).  You’re also going to remind employees about your policy about talking to the media, namely that they are not authorized to speak for your org unless specifically told they may.  If you don’t have this policy, that’s okay, but make sure you tell employees they cannot speak for the org.

Fire her?  You have no other option.  Leave was the right decision Monday evening, but you have to recommend her term today.  Is this a trial by media?  Of course.  Did she admit the conduct?  Yes.  Is it affecting your workplace?  Your servers crashed, your organization is in every major newspaper around the globe.  Employees are outraged.  Customers are likely outraged.  You have no other viable option.  Sensitivity training isn’t going to cut it. Keeping Amy will forever bind her acts of racism to your employer brand.

Now, imagine you’re in HR for the organization Christian works for.  What do you recommend?

Administrative leave?  No.

Investigate?  No.

Talk with employees?  Absolutely.  Talk with Christian.  See how he’s doing.  If he’s okay, tell him you’re happy he is.  The media spotlight is going to be glaring at him for a bit, so ask him what you can do to help minimize any negative impact.  Does he want to you to share with the media that he is your employee and that he’s great or not-so-great?  Does he want you to remain mum?  Ask him.  Your support is important.  You should also hold other meetings with employees, like open forums to talk about the incident and how it might affect them.  Managers should be equipped with talking points about how the organization is going to respond.

Remind employees about your policies?  Yep!  Same reminders as above.

Fire him?  Nope.  Christian did nothing wrong.

Remember, Justine Sacco?  The lady who tweeted a racist sentiment before getting on flight to Johannesburg?  She was fired mid-flight.  Amy is going to get fired here too.  And, that’s the right decision.  What’s more important though is how you in HR respond to Amy’s conduct.  How you address employees.  How you give them the opportunity to share their feelings and ideas on how to be better.  Not giving employees the opportunity to share, not addressing the situation will make everything worse, for a long, long time. 

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

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