United to fire workers who refused to get a vaccination
United Airlines said it would terminate about 600 employees for refusing to comply with its vaccination requirement, putting the company at the forefront of the battle over vaccine mandates as the economy moves through a bumpy pandemic recovery. The airline also said that 99% of its US work force of 67,000 had been vaccinated, a sign that mandates can be an effective way for companies to prod their employees to get shots. More large companies have announced vaccine requirements as the government puts increasing pressure on them to help the country increase its inoculation rate. This month, President Biden mandated that all businesses with 100 or more workers require their staff to be vaccinated or face weekly testing, helping propel new corporate vaccination policies. Some companies are still trying to encourage their employees with a mix of incentives and deterrents, but many others have made vaccination compulsory as a condition of work. In August, United became the first US carrier and one of the first large corporations to mandate a vaccine for Covid-19. “This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” Scott Kirby, United’s CE, and Brett Hart, its president, said in a memo sent to the staff on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman confirmed that the company had already begun its process to terminate 593 US-based employees who declined to be vaccinated. “We will work with folks if during that process they decide to get vaccinated,” the spokeswoman said. United Airlines did not give a timeline for the termination process or a breakdown of the job categories of the fired workers.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-09-30/star/united-to-fire-workers-who-refused-to-get-a-vaccination
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United to fire workers who refused to get a vaccination
United Airlines said it would terminate about 600 employees for refusing to comply with its vaccination requirement, putting the company at the forefront of the battle over vaccine mandates as the economy moves through a bumpy pandemic recovery. The airline also said that 99% of its US work force of 67,000 had been vaccinated, a sign that mandates can be an effective way for companies to prod their employees to get shots. More large companies have announced vaccine requirements as the government puts increasing pressure on them to help the country increase its inoculation rate. This month, President Biden mandated that all businesses with 100 or more workers require their staff to be vaccinated or face weekly testing, helping propel new corporate vaccination policies. Some companies are still trying to encourage their employees with a mix of incentives and deterrents, but many others have made vaccination compulsory as a condition of work. In August, United became the first US carrier and one of the first large corporations to mandate a vaccine for Covid-19. “This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” Scott Kirby, United’s CE, and Brett Hart, its president, said in a memo sent to the staff on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman confirmed that the company had already begun its process to terminate 593 US-based employees who declined to be vaccinated. “We will work with folks if during that process they decide to get vaccinated,” the spokeswoman said. United Airlines did not give a timeline for the termination process or a breakdown of the job categories of the fired workers.<br/>
