Vaccine mandates are coming to offices, but the honor system now reigns

The Biden administration’s announcement that it would mandate vaccines for workers or require weekly testing could help standardize protocols in workplaces. For now, many workplaces operate on an honor system—one in which health information is often volunteered, and employees have few ways of making sure their coworkers are following the rules.

For workers, living with respect-system-based COVID-19 rules has meant confusion in some cases and, among some vaccinated workers, fresh concerns.

Ryan Harris, a 38-year-old systems analyst in Minneapolis who began going back to the office in July, found the honor system there challenging. The company had asked unvaccinated employees to wear masks.

“You’ll see people wearing masks and you don’t know if they wore their mask because they weren’t vaccinated or because they were vaccinated, but they felt really uncomfortable being in public,” said Mr Harris, who is fully vaccinated. He felt uncomfortable asking colleagues about their vaccination status, he said.

“I would meet someone who was wearing a mask and think, should I wear a mask now? It was kind of confusing knowing how to navigate it,” he said.

Shortly after US COVID-19 cases increased due to the delta version, his office began requiring masks for everyone in common areas. Mr. Harris’s company recently made the decision to allow employees to continue working from home if they wish.

Relatively few companies have made shots mandatory for their entire workforce, although more are asking for proof of immunization status before allowing workers in offices. Both types of policies are still in the minority, according to Mercer LLC, which consults with large employers on human-resources issues.

Many employers encourage either vaccination, asking unvaccinated workers to wear masks at all times, requiring masking for everyone in common areas, or requiring a combination of all three. Meanwhile, a large proportion of workers want more clearly defined rules.

Of the 2,000 US workers hired by Mercer in August, 65% said they want their employer to implement a vaccine mandate. Half were hourly workers, and half were salaried, all working for companies with more than 500 people. A separate survey of 372 US employers conducted by Mercer in late July and early August found that while more companies said they were considering a vaccine mandate, 71% did not currently require shots.

On wearing masks, a Mercer employer survey found that 36% said unvaccinated employees have to wear masks at the workplace, while vaccinated workers can live without a mask based on the honor system. Some 24% of employers had rules requiring all workers to wear masks in common areas, while 21% said they were asking employees to provide proof of vaccination to wear masks at work.

Companies have said they want to avoid isolating employees who may opt out of vaccine orders or fear those employees could face lawsuits. Millions of activists remain opposed to both vaccination and the mandate, with concerns ranging from fears of potential long-term side effects to government overreach in individuals’ healthcare choices. After President Biden issued his vaccine mandate last week, #IWILLNOTCMPLY started trending on Twitter.

Some employees are coming back to offices with ambiguity and taking extra precautions while there. Others have chosen to continue working remotely or seek jobs that have either vaccine and testing requirements or flexible options for working from home.

“My biggest worry is that I actually have a 1-year-old who hasn’t been vaccinated and it just made me more restless,” said Stephanie Duffy, a marketing executive for a manufacturing company whose office Encouraging, but not required. The 32-year-old, who lives in Akron, Ohio, began walking back to her office earlier this month to ask non-vaccinated workers to wear masks at work.

“You don’t really know who got vaccinated, so I pretty much wear a mask in the office, in any public place, in any meeting, sometimes at my desk, if there’s a lot of people around.” ” “I’d say 50/50 still wearing a mask.”

Melissa Whitinghill left the customer-service job she had worked for nearly three years in July after she learned that her company had built an honor system around masking and vaccinations, rather than a mandate for its scheduled reopening in August. is planned.

The 56-year-old, who is fully vaccinated, said, “I can’t hang on to the anxiety and stuff I’m feeling in that environment with an honor system and no mandate.” A lot of people where I live are denied vaccinations, and they’re fine with that. My job was so stressful that it didn’t add up.”

Ms. Whittinghill quickly found a second job at a company that allows her to work from home permanently, which she insisted on during her job search. He added that the move means about a 15% pay cut.

Some employers that rely on the honor system may be reluctant to mandate vaccines or masks because they are trying to respect a wide variety of beliefs and feelings among employees.

In August, CNN president Jeff Zucker told employees that the network fired three employees who came into the office without receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, in violation of the company’s honor system, which states that those without vaccinations Employees cannot enter the office.

The honor system can be handy in smaller companies. “There are 10 of us. Five are family members, and the rest of us have worked there for many years, and we all agreed to the vaccinations,” said Ellen M., an associate broker at Town Center Associates LLC. Savoldi, a real-estate company in Beaver, Pa.

An employee at JPMorgan Chase & Company in New York City said he felt comfortable based on walking into his office. Vaccines and tests were not mandatory, and transfer guidance on wearing masks and the lack of disclosure about vaccine status disappointed them.

“In July, the implication was that if you’ve been vaccinated, you don’t have to wear a mask in common areas, so I said ‘Okay, I don’t have to wear one anymore,’ but then they changed the policy so that now Everyone will have to wear masks in common areas, no matter what. He was vaccinated at the beginning of the year and has said he wants the company to either require vaccinations before people can return to the office or allow employees to work from home. JP Morgan declined to comment.