The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a COVID-19 vaccination toolkit aimed at employers of essential workers that is designed to address common vaccine questions and encourage employees to get inoculated.
The toolkit includes a series of employer letter templates, posters and flyers that businesses can print and post, as well as sample social media messages and images. The toolkit also provides businesses with access to a slide deck for informational meetings, fact sheets, newsletter content, and stickers that can be printed out for vaccinated employees to wear in social media posts.
According to HR Dive, HR departments are likely to face questions about how their organizations will handle vaccination campaigns in the workplace. A survey earlier this month by the people analytics firm Perceptyx found that employer vaccine mandates may be divisive among employees.
Among U.S. survey respondents, 53% said employers should not require vaccinations. However, 60% of respondents said they would get vaccinated if their employers offered an incentive of $100 or more.
Incentive programs are gaining traction in the employer community even though supplies of the vaccine remain limited for now, HR Dive reports. Chobani became one of the most recent companies to announce a vaccination incentive, offering to cover up to six hours of time for employees who get vaccinated. The company also said it is exploring hosting on-site vaccination clinics.
In addition, management-side attorneys who spoke to HR Dive suggested that incentives may be preferable to policies that mandate vaccination, in part because federal law may exempt certain categories of workers from such policies.
