With coronavirus variants still causing concern, company leaders can no longer afford to ignore employee vaccination status. It’s clear that COVID-19 will be a part of our lives and our businesses for years to come. That means getting used to a new way of working and reckoning with vaccine and testing requirements.
Part of the anxiety business leaders feel around issuing a mandate is wrapped up in an immediate question: how do companies even begin to implement the kind of tracking they’d need to follow a vaccine requirement? HR technology could offer an answer, but it isn’t up to the task yet.
I understand why some employers were unwilling to discuss this issue. Having these discussions with employees is always difficult, and I believe much of the hesitancy I’ve seen stems from the hope that eventually, this crisis will just go away.
Read More:
Clearly, that isn’t going to happen. When and if a federal mandate is issued, the OSHA fines for not following it could run around $14,000 and the most recent version of the budget reconciliation bill contains an enforcement measure with fines as high as $70,000 for serious infractions, and $700,000 for willful or repeated violations. Additionally, we are already seeing organizations like Anthem, CitiGroup, Deloitte, Facebook, Google, United Airlines, Walgreens and more respond with company vaccination requirements. At HealthJoy, we required vaccines for workers who chose to come into our Chicago office, but relied on an honors system for tracking.
Hesitancy and misinformation have kept vaccination rates lower than needed to reopen without mandates. As we’ve seen this summer, the delta variant puts all our employees, but especially our most vulnerable ones, in danger. To move forward, we must stop imagining a time when COVID will be over.
That means that now is the time to talk with your people about potential vaccine requirements. You can start by simply letting them know:
That you anticipate vaccine requirements for in-person work
That they should plan to get vaccinated if they want to return to the office
That you’ll comply with mandates for vaccinations and testing
Read More:
In order to make an employee vaccine and testing strategy a reality, HR teams need a solution that can easily track compliance and help them review the results.
Choose intuitive tech. Your employees are already snapping photos of their vaccine cards and storing them on their phones. It’s a smart way to back up vaccine records, and as more communities and individual venues require proof of vaccination, this easy access has implications beyond the workplace. Finding a vendor that makes this part of the process intuitive will be critical for HR teams who want to quickly roll out a policy.
Keep the solution simple for employees. We know that complicated technology creates a barrier for employees, and it could make a fraught issue like vaccine mandates even more tenuous. Consider whether your vendor requires multiple steps, portals, sites, or emails. Make sure they have a regular track record of updating their platform, addressing bugs, and improving the customer experience. App-store updates can help you determine whether your vendor is always working toward a stronger product — something that’s essential as mandates change.
Read More:
Create a support strategy. If employees can’t figure out where to upload proof of their vaccination status or test results, where do they turn for answers? Once your solution is established, either dedicate a team to answering vaccine requirement questions or work with your solution provider to set aside resources for support.
Tech solutions have the potential to make implementing any vaccine mandate possible for even the busiest HR teams. It’s crucial that those teams select a platform that puts member experience first.
So much about vaccine requirements remains in flux, and we’re dealing with many unknowns. But planning to comply now, and preparing your people for the transition to vaccination requirements, just makes business sense. Getting ahead of this problem will take pressure off your HR team, provide business continuity, and protect your most vulnerable employees.
