EEOC offers guidance to employers on COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Can employers require employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19? The answer is generally yes, but with some important qualifications. Fortunately, after the first vaccine was approved for emergency use and distribution to the states, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued supplemental guidance to address the circumstances you should consider before mandating the shots once they become widely available.

Avoiding disability-related inquiries

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) imposes restrictions on employers against certain pre- and postemployment medical questions and examinations. The EEOC’s recent guidance helpfully clarifies that administering a COVID-19 vaccine isn’t a “medical exam” for ADA purposes because the employer “is not seeking information about the individual’s impairments or current health status.”

Vaccination prescreening questions may constitute “disability-related inquiries” under the ADA, however, and therefore must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. According to the EEOC, if you offer the vaccine to employees on a voluntary basis, then you may not require them to answer medical screening questions as a condition of receiving the shots. You may refuse, however, to administer the vaccine to a nonresponsive employee for nondiscriminatory and nonretaliatory reasons.