Can an employer force an employee to take the COVID vaccine?
Texas Employment Law Attorney Chris McKinney helps employees with employment law questions all over the State of Texas, including in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston.
Today's Topic: Can your employer fire you for refusing to take the COVID vaccine?
Transcript
Hi, I'm Chris McKinney, Texas labor and employment lawyer practicing in San Antonio, Texas. Today, we're talking about the COVID vaccine and whether or not employers will be allowed to force employees to take it. It seems every day in the news you see another report of yet another COVID vaccine being released or soon to be released and available to the American public for the dreaded COVID-19 virus. And while this is an excellent development, there is a question developing about whether or not employers can require employees to take the COVID vaccine. Well, so here's the answer, and like with many legal questions, the answer is yes and no. Generally, yes. Generally, employers are allowed to force employees to take a vaccine in order to remain employed. You see this a lot in the healthcare industry where employers for nurses, doctors, and others that work in hospitals and other healthcare facilities require employees to take a flu vaccine in order to work. And likely, the EEOC is going to provide similar guidance for the COVID vaccine. But of course, a lot of employers beyond the healthcare arena may require employees to take a COVID vaccine in order to come back to work in the workplace. Now, the law does provide for a couple of different exceptions to that general rule. One of those exceptions is under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you have a healthcare condition that a doctor says might be exacerbated or might prove health-threatening to you if you take the COVID vaccine, then you may have an exception that would allow you to refuse to take it. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there's another potential exception, and that is for a bona fide religious belief that would be genuinely offended if required to take a COVID vaccine or any vaccine for that matter. Other than those two limited exceptions, the law seems generally clear that an employer can require an employee to take a COVID vaccine in order to return to work, and that's how that sums up.
