An employer may also choose to accommodate the employee by making them wear masks, social distance, take frequent COVID tests, and otherwise operate by different rules than vaccinated employees. While some argue that Title VII protections for employees include allowing religious exemptions for vaccines, others argue that an employer only has to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs if they do not amount to an undue hardship-a caveat that could certainly be applied to the heightened risk of transmitting COVID. The requirements can vary state by state, city by city, institution by institution.Īccording to legal experts, it’s still an open question if anyone has to offer religious exemptions. military, which will begin requiring vaccines in the fall, has a formal process by which members request a religious exemption. When it came to mandates for public schools and government employees, the exemptions were often automatically built in. Many states already have statutes guaranteeing religious exemptions for vaccines. In the public sphere, things are similarly vague. Some Catholic clergy and groups have made such resources available, despite the pope’s very clear position on the matter the Colorado Catholic Conference even published a template for Catholics seeking religious exemptions.
A pastor in Riverside County, California, told his congregation in the spring that the vaccine was “unclean” and directed them to a downloadable form Christians could use to claim religious exemptions. Locke is certainly not the only faith leader promoting anti-vax objections in the guise of religious concerns. “I can write you a religious exemption, and we will sue their stinkin’ pants off!” “I know some of you, like, ‘My goodness! What am I gonna-my boss told me that if I don’t get the vaccination that I’m gonna lose my job,’” he said. Guidance: What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws (Section L: Vaccinations)In May, Greg Locke, the right-wing evangelical head pastor of Tennessee’s Baptist Global Vision Bible Church, told a cheering congregation that “elites” were trying to push an unsafe vaccine on the public while injecting themselves with sugar water. Press releases: EEOC Updates Covid-19 Technical Assistance to Cover Retaliation and EEOC Issues Updated Covid-19 Technical Assistance Resource Page: Americans with Disabilities Act Request for Accommodation: Religious Exemption from VaccinationĪrticle: When Does a COVID-19 Vaccine Accommodation Cause an Undue Hardship?Īrticle: 4 Steps for Handling Religious Objections to Workplace Vaccine MandatesĪrticle: When May an Employer Reject a Religious Accommodation Request?Įxpress Request: ADA: Reasonable Accommodation/Interactive Process How to Handle an Employee's Request for a Medical or Religious Accommodation to a Vaccine Requirement
Read the updated guidance and view the EEOC's internal accommodation request form. Some Employers Still Require COVID-19 VaccinesĮEOC Updates Guidance on Religious Accommodations for COVID-19 Vaccines Please complete the brief survey near the bottom of this page. The Biden administration announced May 1 that the COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees, federal contractors and some health care workers will end on May 11, the same day the public health emergency ends.ĬOVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers Will End May 11 How to Balance Religious Accommodations with Company Requirements "Religion is defined to include all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, and the EEOC stands ready to enforce an employer's statutory obligation to reasonably accommodate the religious observances and practices of its employees where doing so would not be an undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business," said Darrell Graham, the EEOC's district director of the Atlanta office, in a statement. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued the pediatric health care company.
Many companies continue to struggle to accommodate employees who don't want to get vaccines because of religious objections.Ĭhildren's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) is in hot water after firing an employee for requesting a religious exemption to its influenza vaccination policy.