No Vax? Coping With Unvaxxed Colleagues, Clients and Customers
A workplace gap between the vaxxed and unvaxxed can cause concerns.
You are double vaxxed, boosted and spatially safe, yet you work regularly with colleagues, clients and customers who are not.
Never mind the masking issue or the reasons they are unvaccinated, you are in contact in-person—and remotely—with people who are opposed to treating COVID-19 the same way you do and it is causing disruption, discontent and malaise in the workplace.
How as a leader do you maintain professional distance and your own safety as well as a safe and fair workplace culture?
“A workplace gap between the vaxxed and unvaxxed can cause concerns. How as a leader do you maintain professional distance and your own safety as well as a safe and fair #workplace culture? #covidsafety #vaccination”
Two years into COVID-19, this is not a random hypothetical.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirement for 80 million U.S. workers to get shots or tests. It did allow for 10.4 million healthcare workers at 76,000 medical facilities to be required to be vaccinated.
Bloomberg reports, “The ruling on OSHA limits Biden’s options for increasing the country’s vaccination rate as the omicron variant propels a spike in cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says only 63% of the country is fully vaccinated and of that group just 37% have received a booster shot. More than 800,000 people in the U.S. have died from the virus.”
Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis superstar who was hoping to win his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, was deported from Australia because he was unvaccinated.
“@DjokerNole, Serbian tennis superstar who was hoping to win his 21st Grand Slam title at the @AustralianOpen, was deported from Australia because he was #unvaccinated. #publichealth #covid”
“Workplaces around the world are filled with Djokovics, difficult but valued or essential employees who expect special accommodations in order to come to work — even when the accommodations they seek are grounded in anti-science views that might put their colleagues at risk,” Lindsay Crouse writes in the New York Times.
This resistance to vaccination and a refusal to adhere to company policies are causing problems in workplaces in productivity, cooperation and collaboration. These are perhaps a preliminary introduction to an onslaught of possible legal recourses in the near future, as conflicts and tension between vaxxed and unvaxxed colleagues escalate verbally and may lead to terminations, resignations and fury.
“This resistance to #vaccination and a refusal to adhere to company policies are causing problems in #workplaces in #productivity, cooperation and collaboration. ”
While a person’s vaccination status is private, they can disclose to co-workers voluntarily if they wish.
“Employers must respect the privacy of their employees while ensuring a safe workplace for all. This can create a difficult balancing act for employers caught in the middle of these two opposing legal obligations,” reports Peninsula Canada. “One of the best ways to avoid any vaccine-related issues in the workplace is education. The more you educate your staff on the benefits of the vaccine, the more likely they are to receive it.”
Read more in Take The Lead on avoiding virtual conflict
Have resources, education and referrals on vaccines as well as safety protocols during COVID-19 available digitally to all employees.
"When considering incentives and limitations for vaccinated and unvaccinated employees, it is preferred to give incentives to those who are vaccinated rather than to limit those who are not vaccinated," Jennifer Huelskamp, an attorney with Freeborn & Peters in Chicago, tells SHRM.
It is better to fire the unvaccinated person who does not comply, experts say.
“Employers are on safer legal footing terminating employees for violating mandatory vaccination policies than imposing lesser punishments, legal experts advise. They say employers should not opt, for example, to withhold pay raises, make only vaccinated workers eligible to apply for internal positions or promote only vaccinated employees,” SHRM reports.
The gap between vaxxed and unvaxxed at work may also be connected to leadership hierarchy and reflect the income gap, leading to resentments and an emotionally toxic workplace culture.
“The gap between vaxxed and unvaxxed at work may also be connected to #leadership hierarchy and reflect the income gap, leading to resentments and an emotionally toxic #workplaceculture. ”
Read more in Take The Lead on an app to avoid workplace conflict
A new December 2021 report from labor economist Aaron Sojourner of the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, and Julia Raifman, a health policy researcher at Boston University, shows that unvaccinated workers miss more work than their vaxxed colleagues, Axios reports.
The report shows “41% of working-age Americans who earn more than $100,000 are vaxxed and boosted; compared to less than 18% for those earning $50,000 or less, according to Raifman and Sojourner’s analysis,” according to Axios.
So how to handle the vax divide at work?
“A new December 2021 report from labor economist @Aaronsojourner of @CarlsonNews, and @JuliaRaifman, a #healthpolicy researcher at @BU_Tweets, shows that #unvaccinated workers miss more work than their vaxxed colleagues, @Axios reports. ”
Read more from Gloria Feldt on hard conversations
Let the human resources department handle the rules, messaging of the rules and enforcement of the rules. If you are a small operation without an HR department, then be sure you communicate well the expectations of safety for all employees and colleagues and be sure to state that the rules apply to everyone. Exemptions may not be possible.
“Let the human resources department handle the rules, messaging of the rules and enforcement of the rules regarding #covid policy. If you are a small operation without an HR department, then be sure you communicate well the expectations. #leadership #vaccination”
The New York Times reports, “Just as the Covid-19 crisis made amateur epidemiologists of people trying to go about their daily lives, it also forced H.R. professionals, especially those at small and midsize businesses, into a new focus on public health. As companies weighed when to return to the office, whether to require coronavirus vaccines and what sort of exemptions from those rules to allow, it was often H.R. directors who were asked to lead those efforts. It was no longer sufficient for these professionals to manage the job satisfaction and career development of their colleagues. Suddenly, they were also charged with monitoring their health, safety and views on immunization.”
The New York Times reports, “The added dimensions of H.R. jobs are coming into sharper focus now, as more organizations put vaccine mandates into effect. About 17 percent of American employers were requiring vaccinations or negative Covid tests for employees returning to the office, according to a Gallagher survey of more than 500 employers conducted between August and October.”
Be prepared to address the vax gap in meetings or on calls. Make certain everyone has the same information on company policy and expectations, and require that everyone treat colleagues with respect, understanding that these choices are individual, but have far-reaching implications for others.
“Make certain everyone has the same information on company policy and expectations, and require that everyone treat colleagues with respect, understanding that these choices are individual, but have far-reaching implications for others. #vaccination #workplace #public health”
Read more in Take The Lead on women leaders handling crisis
If a heated exchange erupts on a virtual call or in person, work to end the encounter and follow up with each party on expectations and requirements.
And do not do what I did when I ran into a friend of more than 25 years at the grocery store. When I asked her about her health and if she was fully vaccinated and boosted, she went into a diatribe about how COVID was a hoax and vaccinations were inserting microchips monitored by the government.
More in Take The Lead on staying calm in virtual meetings
The following verbal exchange in the parking lot was not good and we have not spoken since.
Giving colleagues space for their own responses is helpful, but so is making clear the consequences for not adhering to the rules.
