Can your boss require you to get the COVID-19 vaccine?
Top questions, answers from the EEOC about the COVID-19 vaccine and the workplace
Robert Arnold, Investigative Reporter
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Here is what the federal agency found:
1. For any COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine to an employee by an employer (or by a third party with whom the employer contracts to administer a vaccine) a “medical examination” for purposes of the ADA?
(updated: 12/16/20)
No. The vaccination itself is not a medical examination. As the Commission explained in guidance on disability-related inquiries and medical examinations, a medical examination is “a procedure or test usually given by a health care professional or in a medical setting that seeks information about an individual’s physical or mental impairments or health.” Examples include “vision tests; blood, urine, and breat
Key Points
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has expanded its COVID-19 guidance to discuss how federal equal employment opportunity laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) apply to employers who want to provide or mandate COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.
According to the guidance, vaccination itself is not a “medical examination” within the meaning of the ADA. However, to the extent that pre-screening questions are likely to elicit information about a disability, the employer must be able to demonstrate that the pre-screening is “job-related and consistent with business necessity.”
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