United Airlines said 320 employees will lose their jobs because of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, down from nearly 600.
On Tuesday, United said it would begin terminating 593 employees who failed to get vaccinated or request a religious or medical exemption by the company’s deadline. That number has since dropped to 320, driven primarily by employees who provided proof of vaccination late, and the number could continue to shrink.
More than 99.5% of the airline’s 67,000 U.S. employees are vaccinated, excluding roughly 3% who sought a religious or medical exemption, United said Thursday, saying its policy “continues to prove requirements work.”
The airline pushed back its timeline for resolving requests for religious and medical exemptions to Oct. 15 after six employees who sought exemptions filed a lawsuit alleging United failed to provide reasonable accommodations.
Five employees said their requests were granted, but they were only offered unpaid leave, according to the lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status and was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas last week. A sixth said his request was “administratively denied.”
United previously said employees in customer-facing roles who sought exemptions would go on leave until the pandemic “meaningfully recedes.” Workers whose jobs require fewer interactions could return once United developed testing and safety protocols.
People granted religious exemptions were told they would be on unpaid leave, while those granted medical exemptions would be on medical leave, which can include some form of compensation.
Other major U.S. airlines have not made the vaccine mandatory, though Delta Air Lines will begin charging unvaccinated employees on the company’s health plan a $200 surcharge each month, starting Nov. 1.
Atlanta-based Delta said 82% of its employees were vaccinated as of last week, up from 75% when the fee was announced last month.
Between June and August, as cases linked to the delta variant rose, the share of companies requiring vaccinations rose from 6% to 17%, according to surveys by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, a human resources research firm. Some of those companies only require vaccines for on-site workers or offer a weekly testing option for people who don’t want the vaccine.
About a third of companies said more than 75% of their employees are vaccinated.
“In my opinion, you’re not going to get full compliance without a strict mandate. The question for these companies is whether the fallout is worth it,” said CEO Kevin Oakes.
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October 01, 2021 at 01:33AM
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Fewer United Airlines employees set to lose jobs over COVID-19 vaccines - Chicago Tribune
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