Utah enacts exemptions to vaccine mandates, employers to pay for testing

Many remember when Hermey from the stop-motion animated children’s holiday show Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer famously declared, “You can’t fire me, I quit.” Rather than be forced to be a toy-making elf, Hermey was opting to be a dentist. In the story, he exercised his personal choice to become what he wanted.

Personal choice and freedom have been asserted to oppose many governmental and employer efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Championing personal freedom, individuals have rebuffed and opposed vaccination and testing mandates. The Utah Legislature recently responded to employer vaccination requirements by creating exemptions based, in part, on an employee’s personal belief. Read on to learn the new law's requirements and how they affect employer-created vaccine and testing mandates in the state.

Utah’s workplace COVID-19 amendments

The battle over employer-imposed COVID-19 vaccination mandates has been the recent focus of the Utah Legislature. During a special session, the legislature enacted the Workplace COVID-19 Amendments (the C-19 Amendments). It was passed by both legislative houses on November 11, 2021. Governor Spencer Cox signed the bill into law on November 16.

The C-19 Amendments allow employers to require COVID-19 vaccinations. They impose protections for workers, however, that essentially render vaccine mandates ineffectual. The new law also imposes other requirements on employers.

Vaccine mandate exemptions