Our phones are usually busy with businesses and individuals who are seeking legal advice, but the past few weeks have been exceptionally busy when it comes to issues involving vaccines and employer requirements. This seems to be an issue causing concerns for both employers and employees.

Our attorneys are always happy to provide individualized advice on legal issues, and we encourage employers and employees to seek such advice on specific issues. However, there are multiple resources on the internet, including this article from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), that, in our opinion, fairly summarizes the relevant issues.

As stated in that article, there are a few main points:

  • Employers may require employees to obtain vaccinations, when the employees are eligible to do so under Pennsylvania’s vaccine priority system.
  • As of now, employers are not required to force their employees to obtain vaccinations.
  • Unless employees have an employment contract or some other reason to believe that they are eligible to be treated differently, employees can be terminated for refusing to obtain a vaccination when eligible.
  • Despite what is written above, employees are exempt from the vaccination requirement if they have a disability that may be impacted by the vaccination. Employees are also exempt if they have sincere religious beliefs that prohibit them from obtaining a vaccine.

Unfortunately, these rules are changing on a near-constant basis. Importantly, many of these rules are in the form of temporary regulations. The recent political climate has shown that federal judges are often willing to strike down regulations like these. We, therefore, again encourage employers and employees alike to seek professional advice if they have specific questions on these issues. For now, though, generally speaking, employers can require employees to become vaccinated, and employees can be terminated for refusing to do so.

For more questions, we encourage individuals to contact our attorneys in Bellefonte or State College. We can be reached through our home page or contact page. Resources regarding our advice on employment law matters can be viewed here.