Why isn't there a mandate at most companies/workplaces to get a flu shot?
many companies literally arrange onsite flushots for their employees since they see the end cost of not doing so. like i said before more sick days especially when sick employees infect their child who might have need to be looked after at home by said employee, increase health insurance expenses and lost work productivity.
As the worst measles outbreak in the United States in decades has continued to spread, Atlanta employment lawyer Howard Mavity has started hearing a new question from his clients: Can we make our emp…
www.providencejournal.com
snippet:
The short answer to the complex question about mandating vaccines is that employers may be able to do so — and already do in many health-care settings — but it comes with legal risks and requirements, employment lawyers say.
Under federal law, for example, employers would need to look into accommodating employees who are unvaccinated because they have certain medical conditions, such as a weak immune system. Employers also may be required to make accommodations for workers who object to vaccines on religious grounds, Mavity said.
Meanwhile, any test or inquiry used to verify whether employees are vaccinated shouldn't reveal any other disabilities and would need to be "job-related and consistent with business necessity," according to the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Vaccinations are commonly required in health-care settings — some states even mandate that hospital workers get certain vaccinations. But Mavity said he is advising against the practice for employers outside of health-care settings or that aren't in outbreak-affected areas. "So far, the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has not said the risk in all settings necessitates confirming vaccinations or resistance," he said.
Others suggest that the risk of a successful claim for religious discrimination over vaccine requirement may be somewhat limited, especially as more states weigh eliminating religion-based exemptions. "They can bring a claim — the question is whether they would win and on what grounds," said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
While he notes that the measles risk in typical workplaces is low and that he is not recommending that employers mandate vaccines, Gostin said he could see more universities and possibly other employers doing it, especially in locations experiencing outbreaks "where there is a relatively young workforce congregating in small spaces or with open plans."
Beyond the legal question, said Arthur Reingold, a professor of public health at the University of California, Berkeley, there is the question of whether mandating vaccines outside of certain workplaces, such as hospitals or medical schools, is "a reasonable thing to do." Not only are the levels of immunity among U.S. adults already extremely high, but verifying whether workers have been vaccinated would be a logistical challenge for many employers.
Doing so would involve employees finding childhood immunization records, taking a blood test to show they have antibodies against measles or getting another vaccination as an adult. "From a public health point of view, I think there's probably going to be relatively little benefit," Reingold said, to mandating vaccinations in most workplaces.