In September, United Airlines announced its vaccine policy. According to United’s vaccine policy, employees will either get the COVID19 vaccine or apply for medical or religious exemption. Those who will get medical or religious exemption will take unpaid leave.
Following the announcement, six employees tried to block the policy. Plaintiffs argued that they’d lose seniority and other benefits if they are placed on leave.
Judge Upholds United’s Vaccine Policy
US District Judge Mark Pitman said that “it is not for the Court to decide if United’s vaccine mandate is bad policy”. He added that “Rather, it is the Court’s role to determine if Plaintiffs carried their burden to obtain a preliminary injunction”.
United announced on Monday that around 2,000 employees received religious or medical exemptions. The carrier also said that those granted with medical or religious exemptions can apply for a non-customer-facing position. Those who won’t apply will be placed on unpaid leave.
It said that “We are working to identify non-customer facing roles where accommodated employees can apply to continue working until it is safe for them to their return to their current positions”. 96% of United’s 67,000-person workforce already completed their COVID19 vaccine doses.
Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Pushed Back
Last week, the Biden administration announced the COVID19 rules for federal contractors. This includes airlines that have federal contracts. According to the updated vaccine mandate, the new deadline is on January 4, 2022. The original deadline was December 8. This means that workers looking to get an exemption will have more time to file a request.
The extension could prevent potential cancelations and delays brought by staffing shortages during the holidays. Before the deadline, some airlines already announced that they refuse to terminate unvaccinated workers. With the holiday approaching, both Southwest and American Airlines admit the possibility that not all employees can complete their COVID19 vaccine doses by December 8.
A Southwest spokesperson said that “Employees who file for accommodation by the November 24 internal deadline will continue working past the December 8 federal deadline, while following all COVID mask and distancing guidelines, if they have not received a final decision regarding their accommodation request by that date”.
