Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
Major Dallas-Fort Worth employers spent Thursday afternoon trying to interpret how a sweeping new vaccine mandate announced by the Biden administration will change their pandemic protocols.
As part of the Biden administration’s plan, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is developing a rule that will require companies with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are either fully vaccinated or produce a negative COVID-19 test once a week. It also requires employers to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated.
The mandate will cover over 80 million workers in the private sector, or around two-thirds of the U.S. workforce, according to the White House. The OSHA requirement will take effect in the “coming weeks,” and employers violating the new mandate will incur fines of up to $14,000 per violation.
“We’ve been patient,” President Joe Biden said on Thursday. “But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.”
Biden’s aggressive action comes as just over 53% of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many companies have been reluctant to require shots, with some choosing to give bonuses to workers who get vaccinated.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has enacted executive orders to prohibit vaccine and mask mandates, said he considers the Biden plan a “power grab” by the federal government, said spokeswoman Renae Eze.
“The federal government needs to stop trying to run private businesses,” Eze said. “Texans and Americans alike have learned and mastered the safe practices to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID, and do not need the government to tell them how to do so. That is why Governor Abbott issued an executive order protecting Texans’ right to choose whether they will get the COVID vaccine.”
The Texas Association of Business, an Austin-based business advocacy group on public policies, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Before Biden’s announcement, workplace safety decisions during the pandemic were left to individual companies, forcing leaders to become medical experts overnight.
Southwest Airlines, which has a total of 54,000 employees, said it’s “prepared to move toward compliance” with the mandate. Until then, the Dallas-based airline said it will continue to “strongly encourage” employees to get vaccinated and share their vaccination status with the company.
Rival United Airlines is requiring employees to be vaccinated by Sept. 27 while Delta announced a $200 monthly surcharge for unvaccinated employees. Like Southwest, American Airlines also is encouraging workers to get the shot but isn’t mandating it.
Beth Garvey, CEO of Plano-based staffing firm BGSF, which has a national staff of 400, said she’s happy to have some of the decision-making pressure lifted away.
“I commend the president on his actions today, as I know I am not alone in deciding if we should require mandatory vaccinations,” she said. “His move lifts a burden off many leaders, allowing us to move forward on focusing on building our business to support a growing economy.”
Previously, Garvey said her company has mandated masks in the office and launched a vaccine campaign that entered vaccinated employees in a drawing for a $500 gift card. Vaccinated employees also got to take an extra day off.
Some large companies, including Goldman Sachs, Google and Walmart, have already implemented vaccine mandates. In Dallas-Fort Worth, major hospital systems have led the push for mandatory vaccinations.
Dallas-based AT&T recently implemented mandates requiring all of its managers to be vaccinated and is conducting regular testing of employees, but has stopped short of requiring vaccines for all workers, including those represented by unions.
Jeff McElfresh, CEO of AT&T Communications, said he isn’t surprised by the Biden administration’s decision to ramp up COVID-19 requirements for private businesses.
“It’s pretty clear to us that a vaccinated workforce is a safer workforce,” McElfresh said. “And because of that we’ve been leaning into it. And I just suspect that as things continue you’ll see more and more business leaders and community organizations start to lean in that direction.”
Other North Texas companies were still deciphering what the new order means for their COVID-19 protocols.
Fidelity, which hopes to have 8,000 full-time employees at its Westlake campus by the end of the year, said it’s “evaluating what this could mean for our firm and our employees.” Up to this point, the Boston-based financial firm has encouraged employees to be vaccinated but hasn’t required it.
Biden’s order also includes a mandate that federal employees and millions of contractors working with the federal government get fully vaccinated within roughly 75 days. Home health care workers and most hospital employees are also required to get vaccinated under the order.
Maryland-based defense contractor Lockheed Martin, one of the largest employers in the D-FW area working with the federal government with more than 20,000 workers, said it will follow federal mandates. Its aeronautics division in Fort Worth assembles F-35 fighter jets and its missiles and fire control division in Grand Prairie makes guided missiles for the military.
“As we have done throughout the pandemic, we continue to follow federal, state and local mandates, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” Lockheed spokesman Trent Perrotto said in a statement. “We also use other best practices to mitigate risks and protect the health and well-being of our employees and partners, while ensuring we meet our commitments to national security.”
The Business Roundtable, a coalition representing the CEOs of America’s largest companies, said it welcomes Biden’s actions on vaccines and testing.
“America’s business leaders know how critical vaccination and testing are in defeating the pandemic, which is why so many have invested resources in encouraging and incentivizing their customers and employees to get vaccinated, including providing paid time off,” the roundtable’s statement said. “Over the past several weeks, many companies have decided to implement a vaccine mandate for some or all of their employees, a decision we applaud.”
Delta Air Lines recently became the first major U.S. company to levy a penalty on unvaccinated workers to cover COVID-related health care costs. The Atlanta-based airline said Thursday that a fifth of its unvaccinated employees received shots in the two weeks since it announced a $200 monthly surcharge.
The carrier also hasn’t seen a rise in employee turnover, chief health officer Henry Ting said. New data from the Society for Human Resource Management found that employees might threaten to quit over a mandate but haven’t really done so thus far.