By a vote of 77-to-34 in the House and 24-to-11 in the Senate, Kansas legislators advanced a compromise bill to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and ended the special session called as Republican leaders in the state push back against federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Kelly said she intends to sign the bill that, in part, provides for medical and religious exemptions to opt out of getting a COVID-19 vaccine and requires employers to accept exemptions without questions.
If an employer doesn't offer an exemption, denies an exemption request or terminated an employee after submitting an exemption, the employee can file a claim with the Kansas Department of Labor. KDOL then has 60 days to investigate. If a violation is found, employers with under 100 employees can be fined up to $10,000 per violation. Employers with 100 or more employees could be fined up to $50,000 per violation. The money goes into the unemployment fund. The Attorney General determines the fine amount.
Also in the bill, if an employee is terminated for not complying with an employers vaccine requirement, they can file for unemployment.
