United Airlines employees not willing to get vaccinated have been placed on unpaid leave unless granted an exemption from the company-wide policy. On Monday, a judge upheld United’s vaccination mandate but criticized what he called the airline’s ‘apathy’ towards its employees’ concerns.
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Up to United to decide on HR policy
United Airlines announced it would make COVID vaccinations mandatory for all employees in August as the first airline to do so company-wide, regardless of job duties. The final deadline was October 25th, when employees had to choose between providing a vaccination certificate or going on unpaid leave. Up until mid-September, only ten workers had resigned as a result of the requirements.
US District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, said that, in the end, human resources policy was up to the company, and no employee had been forced to accept a vaccine. However, the judge expressed criticism towards United for not accepting exemptions on religious grounds – something that the Biden administration mandate takes into account, along with medical reasons.
“United’s mandate thus reflects an apathy, if not antipathy, for many of its employees’ concerns and a dearth of toleration for those expressing diversity of thought,” the judge commented in his concluding remarks as quoted by Reuters.
Unpaid leave for certain groups
United Airlines has provided about 2,000 exemptions for its over 70,000 employees. However, pilots, flight attendants, and customer service agents who chose not to get the vaccine have had to go on unpaid leave until the pandemic is over.
In the court case, the affected staff argued that United had violated legal obligations by not allowing them to continue in their role with regular testing and face masks. United argued that allowing unvaccinated employees onboard its flights would put the health of others at risk while also acknowledging the next-to-zero risk of COVID transmission on its flights.
Simple Flying has sought United for a comment but was yet to receive a response at the time of publication. However, a representative for the airline told Reuters that the company was pleased with the ruling and that it would try to find non-customer-facing roles for exempted employees.
Boeing exemptions close to 8% of staff
Meanwhile, over at Boeing, vaccine exemption requests have now topped 11,000, Reuters reported on Tuesday, the vast majority on religious grounds. Due to its status as a federal contractor, the aerospace manufacturer is on a deadline to have all of its (eligible) staff vaccinated by January 4th. Those who are exempt from vaccination requirements will need to be tested at regular intervals.
In an internal communication to Boeing employees, the planemaker also said that those who were granted exemptions would be required to wear face coverings and physically distance from other employees. The company employed about 141,000 people at the end of last year.
“Anyone who has not received their final dose or been approved for an accommodation, and registered their vaccination status by Jan 4, will be issued a final warning and will be expected to promptly come into compliance if they wish to remain employed at Boeing,” the email reportedly read.
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