The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published guidance confirming that employers can implement and enforce a policy requiring employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, with certain exceptions to that general rule.

Specifically, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must attempt to accommodate employees who decline the vaccine due to a disability. Furthermore, for employees who decline the vaccine due to sincerely held religious beliefs, employers likewise must attempt to accommodate those employees, unless doing so would present an undue hardship. Further, based on the facts and circumstances of each case, if the employer determines an unvaccinated person physically present at work poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others, and that threat cannot be appropriately addressed through reasonable accommodations, then the employer may exclude the employee from being physically present at work. However, even under those circumstances, the employer must then determine whether other reasonable accommodations (e.g., remote work) can be provided.

Employees can be asked to provide proof of receiving the vaccine (for example, from his/her own medical provider), but employers must be careful to avoid running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) in doing so, and should carefully tailor and consider seeking legal guidance regarding any questions asked of employees and the information required to show proof.

Given it is anticipated that school staff in Ohio will have priority access to the vaccine, schools should consider starting to plan now for whether vaccination will be mandatory. In addition, local issues must be taken into consideration for each individual district’s plans, and any existing board policies and/or applicable labor contract provisions should be considered.