HR Works Podcast 135: No Vaccine or I Quit

Can you mandate vaccinations? And if you can, should you? What are the legal considerations of doing so? What are the medical and practical considerations? Finally, what do HR experts advise in order to maximize vaccination rates among employees? These are the answers that I attempt to answer in this episode. We are going to discuss this issue from three perspectives. We’ll consider employment laws surrounding mandating vaccines, medical considerations about the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, and the HR perspective of making employees comfortable and engaging with them surrounding the notion of getting the vaccine. We are joined by three panelists today. The first is Whitney Brown (https://lehrmiddlebrooks.com/professionals/attorneys/whitney-r-brown/), a shareholder with Lehr Middlebrooks Vreeland & Thompson, P.C. in Birmingham, Alabama. Whitney represents employers in a range of employment litigation, including harassment and discrimination cases, Family Medical Leave Act, and cases involving state law claims. The second is Kimberly Cassady (https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/company/executives/kimberly-cassady/), the Chief Talent Officer at Cornerstone OnDemand. In this role, she works to ensure all Cornerstars realize their potential through the development of a unique culture that strengthens Cornerstone’s core values and supports our employee lifecycle to attract, develop and retain our global team. Finally, we have with us Sree Chaguturu, MD and Senior VP of CVS Health and Chief Medical Officer of CVS Caremark (https://www.caremark.com/). He focuses on enhancing the quality of services provided to millions of its members and patients, while also contributing to the overall mission of CVS Health. I also mentioned a few past podcasts that cover aspects of this episode. You can find them here: HR Works Podcast COVID-19 Update: Religious Exemptions to Mandatory Vaccines (https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/podcast/hr-works-covid-19-update-podcast-religious-exemptions-to-mandatory-vaccines/) HR Works Podcast COVID-19 Update: Can Employers Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines? (https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/podcast/hr-works-covid-19-update-can-employers-mandate-covid-19-vaccines/) HR Works Podcast COVID-19 Update: Latest Coronavirus Testing Methods (https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/podcast/hr-works-covid-19-update-latest-coronavirus-testing-methods/) Remember you can always follow us on Twitter at @HRWorksPodcast (https://bit.ly/3l0dzP3), and we are also now available on Spotify (http://spoti.fi/3t8of13) and Audible (http://adbl.co/30uhdaq).