tysker said:
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Why are we ok with corporations mandating no drug use or mandatory drug testing? If it's because we agree that drugs are bad for people and can negatively impact how business gets done, then apply that same argument to contracting covid.
Drug and alcohol tests are specific to the job requirement for safety and performance purposes. Does getting covid affect job performance or safety of others? Not significantly more than showing up to work sick or walking around with a bag of peanuts.
In OPs situation, should the firm instead offer many more WFH options for non-covid vaxxed employees. Maybe treat it like a working mother having issues getting to the office during the last weeks/months of pregnancy? Firms often bend over backwards for pregnant workers and new moms needing to work from home when possible, so I would think firms would be willing to offer such service to it's non-vaxxed employees as well.
I would argue that getting covid and ending up in the hospital for days/weeks affects job performance. And from a business perspective, there is a cheap and effective way to minimize that risk and potential downtime. It's a no-brainer if you're a business and you only consider productivity.
There is obviously a lot more nuance when you add in feelings, personal preferences, etc. to the equation. That's why many companies have not yet made the step to mandate. It's obvious at this point that nobody is just going to avoid exposure to covid (and most people probably already have had that exposure at this point), so the remaining viable mitigation options are either vaccinate or wait for it to run through the population.
Let me say again that I do not think that businesses or any other entity should be able to mandate vaccines or any other similar personal choice. But to look objectively at how a business runs and be surprised that mandates are being considered is foolish.
Let's talk about pregnancy in the same context. Pregnancy does create a situation where a worker is unable to work for an extended period of time. Pregnancy also comes with a minimum time window before that worker may become unavailable, during which time a business can be planning to make up for the shortfall. Pregnancy is not contagious, and can't be passed to other workers to create a domino effect.
Now imagine you have a business that is run and managed by a population that is 45+ years old. Suddenly, you introduce an illness that will spread easily and statistically be more dangerous to the population that makes the decisions and runs the business. Your entire leadership team goes down for 2 weeks, some for longer, and you're also in the middle of one of the greatest supply chain challenges of modern times. You can't control the supply chain at large, but you can reduce your own company's downtime with a safe and free vaccine. From a business perspective it just makes too much sense.