As the COVID-19 vaccine continues to roll out, understanding how to navigate and conduct neutral conversations in the workplace is becoming a priority. How can you inform your employees about vaccine options, but stay HIPAA compliant and abide by legal limitations? Are you allowed to require employees to be vaccinated? What can you ask your employees about their vaccine history? Join Rea & Associates and Critchfield, Critchfield & Johnston for a free, hour-long webinar, to gain insight about the COVID-19 vaccine, employer and employee resources from a human resource and legal perspective, CDC guidelines for continued employee safety, and more! This informative webinar presented by Renee West, SHRM-SCP, PHR, a senior manager and HR consulting lead at Rea & Associates, and Kimberly Hall, a legal expert with Critchfield, Critchfield & Johnston, Ltd., will address the following points. What You'll Hear About The COVID Vaccine: - How mandating a vaccine could impact employee relations. - Guidance on how to navigate and conduct employee discussions about the vaccination. - Gain insight on best practices and the legal limitations on mandatory vaccination policies. - Whether is it legal for employers to mandate that employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment? - Employer and employee resources regarding COVID-19 vaccines, CDC guidelines for continued employee safety, HIPAA compliance. - Additionally, the duo will set aside a significant portion of time to address your specific questions at the end of their formal presentation. - Changes made to the FFCRA. If you would like to learn more about this topic or Rea & Associates, visit https://www.reacpa.com. #COVIDvaccine #HRcompliance #FAQ

3. Overview
• Is it legal for employers to mandate that employees receive
the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment?
• What are the legal limitations on mandatory vaccination
policies?
• What alternatives are there to mandatory vaccination
policies?

4. Mandatory Vaccine Policies
• Employers may implement mandatory vaccine policies.
• However:
• ADA
• Title VII
• Employee relations issue?

5. ADA/Title VII
• The EEO laws, including the ADA, continue to apply
during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they do
not prevent employers from following the guidelines
made by the CDC or state/local public health authorities
about steps employers should take regarding COVID-19.
• Guidance from public health authorities is likely to
change as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.
Therefore, employers should continue to follow the
most current information on maintaining workplace
safety.

6. ADA/Title VII
• Accommodation requirements:
• ADA: accommodation due to disability
• Title VII: accommodation due to sincerely-held religious belief

7. ADA/Title VII
• ADA accommodation process:
• Employee requests exemption to vaccine mandate due to
disability
• Interactive process
• Provide reasonable accommodation that does not pose an
undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense)
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8. ADA/Title VII
• Consider:
• Amount of employees who have been vaccinated
• Amount of unvaccinated employee’s contact with others
• Unvaccinated employee’s position

9. ADA/Title VII
• Reasonable accommodation examples:
• Provide masks, gloves and PPE
• Allow remote work

10. ADA/Title VII
• Managers and supervisors responsible for
communicating with employees about compliance with
the employer’s vaccination requirement should know
how to recognize an accommodation request from an
employee with a disability and know to whom the request
should be referred for consideration.

11. ADA/Title VII
• The employer cannot disclose that an employee is
receiving a reasonable accommodation or retaliate
against an employee for requesting an accommodation.

12. ADA/Title VII
• The ADA requires employers to keep any employee
medical information obtained in the course of the
vaccination program confidential.

13. ADA/Title VII
• Q: Is asking or requiring an employee to show proof
of receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination a disability-
related inquiry restricted by the ADA?

14. ADA/Title VII
• A: No. Simply requesting proof of receipt of a COVID-19
vaccination is not likely to elicit information about a disability
and, therefore, is not a disability-related inquiry.
• However, asking why an individual did not receive a
vaccination may elicit information about a disability and would
be subject to the pertinent ADA standard that they be “job-
related and consistent with business necessity.”
• If an employer requires employees to provide proof that they
have received a COVID-19 vaccination from a pharmacy or
their own health care provider, employees should not provide
any medical information as part of the proof.

15. ADA/Title VII
• Religious accommodation process:
• Employee indicates he or she is unable to receive a
COVID-19 vaccination because of a sincerely held
religious practice or belief.
• Interactive process
• Provide reasonable accommodation that does not pose an
undue hardship (more than a de minimis cost or burden on
the employer)

16. ADA/Title VII
• What qualifies as a “religious belief”?
• EEOC guidance explains that because the definition of religion is broad
and protects beliefs, practices, and observances with which the employer
may be unfamiliar, the employer should ordinarily assume that an
employee’s request for religious accommodation is based on a sincerely
held religious belief.
• If, however, an employee requests a religious accommodation, and an
employer has an objective basis for questioning either the religious
nature or the sincerity of a particular belief, practice, or observance, the
employer would be justified in requesting additional supporting
information.

17. ADA/Title VII
• What qualifies as a “religious belief”?
• Social, political, or economic philosophies, or personal preferences, are
not "religious" beliefs under Title VII.

18. ADA/Title VII
• What happens if an employer cannot exempt or
provide a reasonable accommodation to an
employee who cannot comply with a mandatory
vaccine policy because of a disability or sincerely
held religious practice or belief?
• If an employee cannot get vaccinated for COVID-19 because
of a disability or sincerely held religious belief, practice, or
observance, and there is no reasonable accommodation
possible, then it would be lawful for the employer to exclude
the employee from the workplace.
• This does not mean the employer may automatically
terminate the worker. Employers should first consult with
legal counsel.

19. Alternatives to Mandatory Policies
• Simply encourage employees to get the vaccine.
• Provide incentives
• May need to offer an alternative program.

20. Best Practices
• Have a written policy in place.
• Mandatory
• Voluntary
• Incentive-based
• Identify how to request an accommodation.
• Maintain confidentiality of vaccine records.
• If unionized, consult the collective bargaining agreement.

22. Learning Objectives
• American Recovery Act
• FFCRA Leave – Updated Criteria
• HR Best Practices
• Communication to Employees
• Common Scenarios
• Employer Questions

23. American Recovery Plan Act – FFCRA
Leave Updates
• ARPA further extend tax credit for employers who
voluntarily offer paid leave to their employees who
qualify per criteria guidelines.
• Applies to all employers between 50 - 500 total
employees.
• Beginning April 1, 2021 another 10 days will be added to the total
amount of FFCRA emergency leave available to employees. The
original FFCRA 10-day limitation for paid sick leave applied from
March 2020 through March 2021.
• Extended through September 30, 2021

24. American Recovery Plan Act – FFCRA
Leave Updates
• The tax credits are also available for these additional
qualifying reasons for paid leave:
• The employee is obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination.
• The employee is recovering from any illness related to
receiving the vaccine.
• The employee is seeking or waiting for test results or a
medical diagnosis for COVID-19, or the employer has
requested the employee to obtain the same.

25. HR Communication Resources
ARPA also resets the 10-day limit for the tax credit for
paid sick leave under FFCRA as of April 1. Any days an
employee took before that date will not count toward the
cap following that

26. HR Scenarios - Common Questions
• Is an employer required to pay employees for time taken for
obtaining Covid vaccine?
• Per the Fair Labor Standards Act if vaccine is mandated by
the employer, the employer may be required to cover the cost
of the vaccine and pay an employee for time spent getting the
vaccine.
• An employer must cover any work-related expenses for an
employee if the cost of the expense would drop the employee
below minimum wage. State laws may also require payment.
This is extended through September 30, 2021

27. HR Scenarios – Common Questions
• ARPA also resets the 10-day limit for the tax credit for
paid sick leave under FFCRA as of April 1. Any days an
employee took before that date will not count toward the
cap following that
• The EPSL bank of 80 hours and EFMLA bank of 12 weeks of leave
resets on April 1, 2021.
• The initial leave provided by the FFCRA ends on March 31 and, starting on
April 1, 2021, employers may voluntarily provide a new bank of up to 80
hours of EPSL and 12 weeks of EFMLA, for which the tax credit will apply
as long as the leave is taken by September 30, 2021 and other rules are
followed.

28. HR Scenarios – Common Questions
• We have employees who are bullying co-workers regarding
vaccination vs. no vaccination. What can an employer do?
• Heightened anxiety caused by the coronavirus crisis, bullying is
continuing to rise in the workplace.
• Any incident in which a worker is abused, threatened, intimidated,
teased or ridiculed could be considered intrusive and harassing
behavior, and such emotional and psychological violence should be
taken very seriously.
• Employer should reference Workplace Safety, Harassment policies
and procedures.
• Supervisors/Managers should apply general workplace rules and
conduct for employee disagreements.

29. HR Scenarios – Common Questions
• What is employer obligation to record any
workplace Covid-19 cases?
• OSHA recordkeeping requirements mandate covered
employers record certain work-related injuries and
illnesses on their OSHA 300 log (29 CFR Part 1904).

30. HR Scenarios – Common Questions
• COVID-19 can be a recordable illness if a worker is infected
as a result of performing their work-related duties. However,
employers are only responsible for recording cases of COVID-
19 if all of the following are true:
• The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19 (see CDC
information on persons under investigation and presumptive
positive and laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19);
• The case is work-related (as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5); and
• The case involves one or more of the general recording
criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1904.7 (e.g., medical treatment
beyond first aid, days away from work).

31. HR Scenarios – Common Questions
• We are concerned with our employee’s mental health
and ability to deal with Covid etc. What resources are
available?
• https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/families-
and-individuals/coping-with-covid-19-anxiety
• Discuss with your company insurance providers
• Availability of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

32. Resources
• https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-
questions
• https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-
19/covid-19-vaccination-program
• https://www.reacpa.com/service/covid-19-resource-
center/