Despite increasing employment shortages in various industries, more and more job listings are requiring vaccinations.
According to a recent report by CNBC, current job openings in August that require workers to get vaccinated have gone up 90% compared to the previous month. 34% of openings require vaccination specifically against COVID-19.
"Employers have a duty under OSHA to provide a safe workplace," said Wendy Lazerson, co-chair of Sidley’s Labor and Employment international practice group and a partner in Sidley’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices on Thursday’s Ask an Expert with KCBS Radio’s Holly Quan and Jeff Bell.
"And that may or may not include vaccines and masks depending on the circumstance," she said. Lazerson also serves on the firm’s COVID-19 Task Force.
The majority of employers are going to require employees to virtually submit their COVID-19 vaccine card as verification of vaccination. But it would be difficult to weed out any potential fake ones, said Lazerson.
It will be especially tough for small business owners and restaurants who have had to "scramble" over the last year and a half, she added. "I think it’s been pretty miraculous what people have been able to accomplish."
Employers should require masks in the workplace with only a few exceptions, "but it really depends on the circumstances," she said.
Other alternatives, such as face shields, can work as long as people are distanced appropriately, said Lazerson.
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