United Airlines employees requesting exemption from the carrier's Covid-19 vaccine requirement will be placed on unpaid personal leave beginning Oct. 2, according to an employee memo.
The memo, signed by United HR services VP Kirk Limacher and addressed to employees requesting "reasonable accommodation" from the vaccine mandate announced last month, cited the United States' worsening Covid-19 statistics as a driver for the policy. Infections in the country are up 20 percent, nearly 100,000 people are hospitalized and an average of 1,500 people are dying daily, the memo cites.
"Given the dire statistics listed above, we can no longer allow unvaccinated people back into the workplace until we better understand how they might interact with customers and their vaccinated coworkers," Limacher said in the memo.
For such non-customer-facing operational roles as technicians and dispatchers, the unpaid lead will last until United develops and implements protocols, such as around testing and mask requirements, beyond current federal mandates. The carrier expects to have that by mid-October, though the return-to-work date for those employees could be quicker.
Customer-facing employees will be on leave until "the pandemic meaningfully recedes," and they still might face additional workplace safety measures when they return, according to the memo.
For employees whose reasonable accommodation requests are denied, they will be required to be fully vaccinated within five weeks of the denial and have their first dose by Sept. 27. Those who do not will be terminated, the memo said.
United initially had set Oct. 25 as the deadline for vaccination, but that moved up following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issuing full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in late August.
To date, United remains the only major U.S. carrier to issue a strict vaccine mandate for employees, though other carriers are making it a tougher financial choice for employees to be unvaccinated. Delta Air Lines, which has issued a mandate for new hires but not for existing employees, in late August said unvaccinated employees will pay higher health insurance premiums and undergo weekly testing when working in areas with high Covid-19 infection rates. American Airlines last week said that, beginning in October, it no longer will allow unvaccinated employees to use special pandemic leave if they catch Covid-19, instead requiring them to use their own sick days. Alaska Airlines last week also said it was requiring new hires to be vaccinated and ending special Covid-19 pay for unvaccinated employees who miss work due to exposure or infection. Unvaccinated employees face a testing protocol and will be required to take a special vaccine education program, according to Alaska.
Hawaiian Airlines and Frontier Airlines each have issued vaccine requirements for employees as well, though Frontier's policy gives an option for regular testing for employees who do not wish to be vaccinated.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign executive orders today requiring federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, which international law firm Dorsey & Whitney partner Steve Bell, who has been advising employers on vaccine mandate policies, said likely will result in more companies following suit with vaccine mandates.
"The fact that the largest employer in the U.S., the federal government, is mandating vaccines will give comfort to private employers who have been hesitant to require vaccines," Bell said in a statement. "It may also set the standard for what a reasonable employer should be doing in the face of this continuing epidemic."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce this week said unvaccinated passengers would be banned from international flights once Australia's borders reopen, which could be in December, according to a report from Australia's Traveller publication. Those comments came during a speech to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle.
Qantas issued a vaccine mandate for employees last month, requiring frontline employees to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 15 and the rest by March 31, 2022. "Very rare" exceptions will be made to those who are unable to be vaccinated for documented medical reasons, according to Qantas.
In a survey of about 12,000 Qantas employees, representing 60 percent of its Australia-based workforce, 89 percent already had at least one dose or planned to be vaccinated, and only 4 percent said they were unwilling or unable to get the vaccine, according to Qantas.
"We provide an essential service, so this will help guard against the disruptions that can be caused by just one positive Covid case shutting down a freight facility or airport terminal," Joyce said in a statement. "It’s clear that vaccinations are the only way to end the cycle of lockdowns and border closures, and for a lot of Qantas and Jetstar employees, that means getting back to work again."